The Dragon's Knight
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Xanxus is at the end of his rope with his 'father'. So when a rather unique opportunity comes knocking, he doesn't hesitate to take it. Only catch is that he's stuck escorting his crazy grandmother, his Rain and his bratty Storm along for the ride. Can this "Holy Grail" really solve his problem, or will it unlock hidden secrets of his past he never knew?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, just to clarify a few things before I get my head bitten off again about this. I have been told repeatedly that Darnic was quite likely Jewish, and that he was only collaborating with the Nazis for their resources. And that if Daniela was fighting against the Nazis, it was against the Fascist regime of the time.**

**Here's a few things I would like to point out.**

**Darnic might be Jewish, but he was a MAGUS first and foremost. Do you really think he'd _care_ about wearing the swastika symbol or participating in the atrocities they were committing against the Jews when it meant he was able to access free 'volunteers' without having to lift a finger? It's like expecting Magneto to let his religion to keep him from going forward with his Pro-Mutant views. I also sincerely doubt that the Nazis would have let just ANYONE walk off with enough manpower to steal the Grail, hypnotism or not. Ergo he could be considered a Nazi by default.**

**Second part I'd like to point I would like to make out: Daniela was a _mafioso_. She was already working AGAINST the government from the get-go, and the Varia is made up of more than just Catholics. I really doubt she would take what the Nazi's were doing laying down, even if it meant having to help on the sly. I also doubt she would care if Darnic was or wasn't a Nazi so long as he wore the symbol and worked with them.**

* * *

When Xanxus was younger, his mother gave him a tremendous gift. Something that would become the only legacy of a woman he could barely remember.

That legacy...was magic.

Not the cheap wand waving crap from _Harry Potter_ or the ridiculous notion of magical girls, but honest to god sorcery that had strict rules and even more prejudice against newcomers than you could shake a stick at.

She even gave him what was left of their family crest, though it was barely twenty circuits of decent quality. Considering it was a miracle she had been able to hold on to her mind long enough to do that, he had no idea what his circuits could do beyond the fact that they belonged to his mother and were therefor precious.

It hurt like a bitch, but it was something that belonged to his Ma that _no one_ could take from him without ripping apart his cold dead body.

It was a cold comfort when his 'father' took him in to the Vongola, leaving his Ma all alone with no one to care for her. He still had no idea how or when she died. He just knew she wouldn't last long without him to watch out for her.

His new grandmother took one look at his Crest...and promptly enlisted the aid of a few 'younger' Magus-born to teach him how to use it.

And by younger, he would mean their families were less than five generations old. They were still old enough to be his father.

By the time Xanxus was sixteen, he could reasonably call himself a second-rate Magus. It was something his asshole adopted father couldn't take from him, not that he knew about it.

Though he could care less about reaching the Root, he could emphathize with the Enforcers he ran into. It didn't hurt they were the ones who taught him the bare basics of magecraft _and_ found out what exactly some of the circuits he inherited from his mother did.

(On an unrelated note, Xanxus' favorite spell was the Gandr curse. One hit from that and the Ninth's guardians suddenly had other concerns more pressing than his behavior or language.)

On the day he learned he _wasn't_ the Ninth's son and therefor unable to inherit because of the blood lock on the Vongola rings, Xanxus did the 'smart' thing.

He joined an Executor group on a mission to deal with a new Apostle that had just turned an entire town into ghouls. Normally they wouldn't accept the presence of a Magus, but Xanxus was a devout Catholic and didn't give two shits about Akasha or the Root. He just wanted to kill something and aim a little misplaced aggression against something that deserved killing.

(Squalo was a very happy shark when Xanxus came back with a set of Black Keys, just for him. Those were much easier to get past _civilian_ security.)

It was because of the Executors that Xanxus learned of a very...interesting...ritual. One that might solve the issue of not having the proper bloodline to lead the Vongola.

The only problem? The ritual in question was unable to successfully be completed because one of the requirements for it to be used had gone missing.

Xanxus was about ready to start a coup on the Ninth when he heard a rumor that the Great Grail War was about to begin in Romania.

Considering what he had heard about the original, he wasn't foolish enough to pass up an opportunity of a life time.

Which was why he made his way to London to the institution known by all Magi as "Clock Tower".

* * *

_Inside Clock Tower..._

Xanxus stalked the halls like he owned the place. While he held the aura of a king (according to his new Storm officer Belphegor, who claimed to be an actual prince), his demeanor was far closer to that of a dragon. And not some paltry lizard, but that of a phantasmal beast.

Thanks in part to his tutors, he had a list of books he wanted to get his hands on to make some progress as a Magus. Mostly to honor his mother.

The only catch was that they were all very difficult to find and almost certainly in the hands of the older families, who would be reluctant to part with them. Not to mention _expensive_ to the point Mammon would definitely bitch about them and draw the attention of the old bastard in the Iron Fort.

Xanxus wasn't about to elaborate on what he was actually studying to that old fool. If Nonna hadn't bothered to enlighten him on what the special tutors were for, then he didn't feel any inclination to tell him either.

It took him a moment to get directions, but he soon stood in front of a door that read "Rocco Belfane".

"Come in."

The man was old and looked like a scholar.

"You're early, Vongola."

Xanxus said nothing.

"I've heard from Daniela of your interest in the Grail. And that you would be willing to act as a Master of Red for us."

"Let's cut to the chase old man. I don't really give two shits about what you do with the Greater Grail if we retrieve it. I just want a chance to access it at least once," said Xanxus bluntly. "Besides, the second Nonna found out that the one who took it was part of the Nazi's, she all but jumped at the chance to send me here. If not for her health she would have joined herself just to kill the thief."

To say Daniela Vongola despised Nazis was an understatement. She had _fought_ in World War Two and had taken inordinate pleasure in murdering those bastards, so the fact that one had managed to survive _and_ had used the bodies of infants to maintain his youth pissed her off immensely.

The fact that a Nazi was starting a ritual that might be able to help with the 'slight' issue of Xanxus being unable to inherit...well, she had been all for Xanxus and a select number of his men to join in.

Only his bonded and trusted Elements were going to be allowed to go. Like Squalo and Mammon for instance. Belphegor was too young and Lussuria was needed to keep the rest in line while they were gone. Though depending on how things went, Daniela _might_ just join in regardless to watch the fireworks.

Seeing the gleam in the man's eyes, Xanxus pulled out a list.

"What's this?"

"You want me to fight for the Mage's Association? I'm going to need these and a catalyst to fight with," said Xanxus.

Rocco took the list and blinked.

"I was informed you were a magus. Why would you need such basic books?"

"My mother might have passed on her crest to me, but by the time I was old enough to handle it her mind was too far gone. It was a miracle she was able to perform that minor ritual before it went completely. And I don't feel like tracking down and negotiating with the families who _might_ have a spare copy in exchange for payment or favors," said Xanxus bluntly.

More like Daniela did _not_ want her son learning about magecraft or the older families. Timoteo was far too impetous to trust with such information, and if he found out about the hidden society then so would Iemitsu, who was an idiot of the highest caliber. There was a reason she had all the 'special tutors' come to her mansion and not the Iron Fort to train Xanxus.

She had little doubt if her son knew about magecraft that he would try to 'absorb' some of the younger, more foolish families so that they could use magecraft to make the Vongola 'stronger', which would only draw the Association _and_ the Executioners down on their ass sooner rather than later. Never mind the damage Iemitsu could cause if he had access to magecraft.

Rocco wanted to snort derisively, but was smart enough not to do so while Xanxus was in the room.

"If you want training, then you should have applied under Lord El-Melloi II. He takes in strays and trains them up to be competent Magi, regardless of what their family history is so long as they're willing to learn," said Rocco bluntly.

Xanxus blinked.

"A compromise then. Access to Clock Tower's library and a catalyst if I manage to make it out of this ritual alive. I don't have time to study here full time," said Xanxus.

"That can be arranged," said Rocco easily.

Giving the assassin the same access any other visiting magus willing to pay for their own supplies was no hardship.

"As for the catalyst, I've already arranged for one."

He pulled out a small box. Inside was a piece of wood with some intricate carvings on it, likely from something that had been much bigger. It was old too. Too old to be from anything within the past hundred years, if not more.

"What is this?"

"A fragment of the Round Table from Arthurian myth. A rare treasure even among the artifacts in Clock Tower," said Rocco. "This should allow you to summon a famous hero as a Servant. King Arthur, Gawain, or even Tristain. There is no guarantee."

Xanxus was already privately suspending his disbelief that King Arthur's legend was apparently real, and that such artifacts could still be obtained in this day and age.

"This is the location of the supervisor for this war, as well as the circle and aria needed to summon a Servant," said Rocco, handing over a file. "How you enter Trifas is up to you, but by accepting this you agree to act as a Master of Red on our behalf."

"When does this 'ritual' start?"

"Officially it already has. Darnic has already summoned a Servant, it's just a matter of time before the rest follow suit," replied Rocco. "Fight with the rest of the Red faction or solo, it makes no difference. All we want is the Greater Grail."

Xanxus took the box, and left the room. Any doubts he had were cast aside.

He had committed himself to this...Great Grail War, and he intended to see it through, no matter what end was waiting for him.

Perhaps he would have a chance to find out whether he was meant to be a Vongola, or if he should settle for being Xanxus di Varia instead.

At least Varia Boss wasn't one the trash that ran the main family or that fucker Iemitsu could take from him.

* * *

Since Daniela had never seen a ritual performed, much less one to summon a 'heroic spirit', Xanxus decided to humor his grandmother and doing the summoning in her home. More specifically the back yard, so she could watch it properly.

Squalo had no idea about the 'mission' they would be on once Xanxus had a Servant and their travel plans were made.

Xanxus would not be surprised if Daniela spun the entire trip as the Varia 'escorting' the retired Eighth boss for a rather odd vacation.

The Varia boss walked outside, well aware his grandmother was taping this and was watching with eagerness.

Xanxus stood before the ritual circle which he had drawn out with the blood of some random mook too stupid to live.

"Silver and steel, the essence.

Stone and the archduke of contracts, the foundation.

Red, the color I pay tribute to.

A wall, to harbor against the raging wind.

Let the four cardinal gates be sealed,

and tread the three-forked road from the Crown

reaching unto the Kingdom.

I hereby propose.

Swear your fealty to me, and my life shall be your sword.

If you abide by the Grail's summons and follow the laws,

then heed my call!

I hereby swear.

I shall be all that is good in the world.

I shall ward off all that is evil in the world.

From the Seventh Heaven,

wielding the Three Words of Power,

come forth from the ring of control,

Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!"

The amount of power that came from the circle was not something to be taken lightly.

Xanxus could _feel_ something connecting to his circuits, as a figure appeared from the light.

There in the center of the circle was a figure clad in silver and red armor. There was no mistaking it was a Knight, but Xanxus had absolutely no idea which one. Just that it would almost certainly be from Arthurian legend... and he had suspicions it _wasn't_ the legendary king himself.

The figure's helm was horned, and their figure was rather petite for a man. However he knew Quality armor when he saw it, and the figure had on a set that was leagues above anything any modern blacksmith could make.

A sharp grin appeared on his face. He was one step closer to his goal already.

"Who are you?" demanded Xanxus, with all the authority of a king.

Seeing the helm come apart and slide behind the figure's back was interesting, but not as much as the rather sharp, feminine features of the knight. He was really starting to wonder what sort of catalyst that idiot had given him because last he checked none of the knights of the Round Table were _female_.

Unless the Round Table followed the same "guy's only" rule that the Varia did and politely ignored anyone who suffered from the condition known as "female" once a month.

The knight pushed their sword into the ground and stood proudly before him.

"I am Mordred, the one and true heir of Arthur Pendragon," they announced with no little amount of pride and confidence. "So I ask you... are you my Master?"

Xanxus took one look at that cocky grin...and found an answering one on his face.

He could work with this.

Daniela, on the other hand, couldn't help _her_ reaction to who her grandson had summoned. She started _howling_.

"Only you, my adorable little Xanxan, would summon the bastard son of the king rather than some honorable knight!" she cracked up.

Mordred almost took offense to that comment.

"Master," growled Mordred. "Who is she and can I kill her?"

"Only if you want me to come after you myself," said Xanxus with a slight growl. "And what the hell is so funny about me summoning Mordred rather than one of the others?"

Daniela at least had managed to regain her composure by that point.

"Let's face it grandson... out of all the Knights from the Arthurian legend, Mordred is the only one that comes close to resembling you!" she cackled.

Mordred blinked, running that comment through their head before they realized the old woman was actually _complimenting_ them, rather than insulting their Master.

They dismissed their armor, as the old woman was clearly not a threat but an ally.

Xanxus eyed Mordred up before calmly asking "Do you want to be addressed as a male or by your actual gender?"

Mordred openly glared at him.

"Call me a woman and I will gut you myself," they snarled, holding their sword to his throat in warning.

Xanxus rolled his eyes and didn't even flinch. Mordred found herself respecting her master already.

"Your shark is going to _love_ meeting Mordred," said Daniela with a grin.

"Shark?" repeated Mordred confused.

Xanxus smirked, already anticipating the reaction Squalo was going to have to Mordred and eager to see how the fallen Knight would handle fighting his Rain. God knew Squalo was going to be thrilled, once he realized who he was fighting.

Besides, one look at the clothing Mordred was wearing underneath that armor and he already knew Lussuria was going to have fun altering the poor knight's wardrobe. What she had on now was barely acceptable.


	2. Chapter 2

"VOI! Is that the best you got?" shouted Squalo with eager glee.

"Bring it on sharky!" shouted Mordred with equal enthusiasm.

It had taken all of two hours after entering the Varia castle before Mordred ran into Squalo in one of the training rooms. He had taken one look at her sword and smirked with anticipation before he challenged her, thinking she was a random mook.

Mordred officially _loved_ the Varia. Despite the fact she was a woman with a massive sword, not a single person mistook her for weak. In fact they seemed to accept her presence with ease, mostly because it had been the Boss who brought her.

No one questioned the Varia Boss.

The fact she was able to fight the Sword Emperor on equal terms was an even bigger factor, and she could already tell that most of those watching had already deemed her "Varia Quality", which seemed to be a mark of pride among them. Considering this was a group of assassins, Mordred accepted the title gladly.

Finally the sword Squalo was using snapped, unable to handle Mordred's superior blade. The fact it lasted as long as it did was rather impressive, considering her own weapon was leagues above what was available.

"Voi... you're not bad!" said Squalo pleased.

"Shark trash, are they Quality or not?" drawled Xanxus.

Squalo eyed Mordred critically, and found no fault in their skill level.

"Any idea what to Name her, boss?" asked Squalo seriously.

Mordred felt she should take offense, but from what she could tell none of the assassins around her would mistake her for weak because she was a woman. She had seen how other females were treated as equal warriors and killers without a second thought and how their 'gender' was politely ignored so long as they did their job.

Instead she opted to ignore the reminder of her gender.

"Mordred," said Xanxus with a smirk, inwardly laughing.

Squalo accepted the Name without a second thought, unaware of the joke. Besides, it wasn't like the name was taken yet.

"Voi, from now on you're Mordred then. Any objections?"

Mordred saw the way her Master was trying very hard not to crack up, likely because his right hand was entirely unaware of her actual name. And now everyone in the castle would be calling her that.

She resisted the urge to kick him in the shin.

"What was that about?" asked Mordred, confused.

"If you're good enough to be given a Name, then it means you're Quality. Means the men will take you seriously, as only those who've earned them get a proper Name from the higher ups," explained Xanxus. "Means the trash won't take you for anything but a skilled warrior, regardless of your gender or appearance."

Mordred actually flushed with pride hearing that. It was completely unlike the headaches she had endured trying to earn acceptance as a knight.

The more she saw of her Master, the more he reminded her of a proper king. The sort of man her 'father' would have rather negotiated a truce with than go to war against.

It made her wonder what would have happened if Xanxus had been king, rather than Arthur. He might be an arrogant bastard, but he inspired real loyalty from his men and 'hoarded' them much like a dragon would gold. No one harmed anything that was _his_ without paying for it in blood.

"Why did you tell them my true name though?"

Xanxus snorted.

"Because no one would actually believe you're the _real_ Mordred, even if you are a fragment," he replied back.

"Now who is this cutie?" cooed Lussuria.

"I want her outfitted with a uniform and a spare set of clothes," said Xanxus bluntly.

"Can do boss," said Lussuria without a second thought. "Any preferences?"

Mordred blinked. The easy acceptance she got from this place was still throwing her off something fierce.

"Do you have any samples?" she asked after a moment.

"Oh honey, you have no idea. You just pick out what you want and we can have it within a few hours. If nothing else I can take you shopping later," said Lussuria.

"Make sure it's combat worthy," said Xanxus. "I'm taking him and two others to Romania to act as 'escorts' for Nonna. Why she wants to vacation in that boring area, I'll never get."

"Shishishi...did the boss just say Romania? What part of it?" asked Belphegor.

"Trifas," said Xanxus.

He took note at how Belphegor stiffened. The prince seemed to hone in on the red markings on Xanxus' hand, before he looked closer at Mordred.

"Shishishi... Saber, Archer or Lancer?" he asked with a grin.

Mordred blinked, as did Xanxus.

"Saber."

"So the dragon has summoned the knight of treachery as his Servant. How amusing! Ushishishi!" said Belphegor with glee. There was no mistaking the hopeful expression on the child's face. "Can I come?"

"Where?" asked Xanxus.

"To the Grail War of course!" said Belphegor with eagerness.

Xanxus picked the child up, which made him hiss in annoyance like an unhappy cat.

"Not this go around. You still haven't earned the full respect of your subjects," said Xanxus.

Belphegor pouted.

Mordred, in a surprising amount of sympathy, patted the child on the head. She made sure to avoid his crown.

"A good prince should know when to study so that he can lead his kingdom, and when it's acceptable for him to watch a king at work," she commented.

That seemed to cheer him up, having _Mordred_ of all people acknowledge his rank.

"That being said, I know you're bringing your grandmother with you. Why not him?"

"He has control issues," said Xanxus. "That and his rank among his division is still new enough that there's no telling _what_ trouble those idiots will get into without someone keeping them in line."

"Why not take Squalo and Belphegor with you? No one would look at Bel and think he's a threat, and he can be a discreet bodyguard for Daniela while you and Squ-honey do whatever mission you're going to Romania for," commented Lussuria.

"Was planning to take you or Mammon with me on top of Squalo."

Lussuria made a face.

"This close to flu season? We need all hands on deck and Mammon dislikes field work anyway. Besides, the bond you have as his Sky is still new enough that he'll have anxiety issues if you leave him behind. Better to take him with you," said Lussuria.

Xanxus paused. He hadn't considered that.

"Prince trash, find whatever gear you'll need to come with us. You'll be acting as Nonna's personal guard whenever Squalo and I aren't there to do it," said Xanxus.

Belphegor perked up at that. Perhaps the okama peasant deserved a treat when they got back for convincing the king.

"That being said I will be quizzing you and making you do lessons while we're there," warned Xanxus.

* * *

"Welcome my son. I am the supervisor for this war, Father Shirou Kotomine," said the white haired priest. It was at odds with his tan skin.

"Why is the church here?" asked Xanxus confused.

"Ah, you must be Xanxus."

He didn't know why, but the church was giving him a bad enough feeling that he was disinclined to stick around. It didn't feel foul, which was usually a good indicator something was wrong with the priest or the clergy running the place.

No, what was giving him a bad feeling was the chick _next_ to the priest, though she was definitely humoring the priest in whatever side game he had going on.

Besides, while he respected the church he didn't want to deal with any disapproving glances for bringing Squalo, Belphegor and his Nonna here.

So you could imagine his surprise when he found out what his Nonna had almost literally dragged in to their current base.

"Who or what are they?" said Xanxus.

"Boss! Thank god, you deal with your crazy grandmother!" said Squalo in relief.

The young woman had a little girl with a scar on her face in her lap. She gave off the same feel as Mordred, only vastly weaker. That and the fancy tattoo on the woman's hand was something of a dead giveaway.

Squalo had to duck as one of the lamps was thrown at him, to the amusement of Belphegor.

"Nonna...what the hell?" asked Xanxus flatly.

"I saw her leading this adorable little thing away from a murder with the girl covered in blood, so naturally I just had to offer them a place to stay! Isn't she as adorably homicidal as your Storm?" said Daniela cheerfully.

Most people, when faced with Daniela's quirks would politely call her eccentric.

Xanxus was of the opinion that his grandma was the _good_ kind of crazy, but that he wished she didn't always drag him into acting as her co-conspirator.

At least not when she wasn't attempting to drive her son up the wall anyway.

Xanxus eyed the little girl, who was almost certainly a Servant if the look Mordred was giving her was any indication.

Something passed between the two.

"You got a name kid? And I don't mean your Servant title."

"Ano... We're called Jack. Jack the Ripper," said the girl, having apparently guessed Xanxus was a lot like her in many ways, but had managed to come out on top.

"Ka-ching. The title of the ripper belongs to me, peasant!" said Belphegor.

One of the mooks with a thing for historical crime had jokingly called Belphegor "Prince the Ripper" after the kid flipped out and massacred the five morons he was training with that hadn't exactly been 'welcoming' to him at all. And the name had stuck.

Xanxus rolled his eyes at his Storm. He put a hand on the boy's head.

"Prince trash, if I'm reading this situation right you're the one borrowing _her_ name, not her stealing yours," said Xanxus.

Belphegor pouted and continued to have a childish stare down with the other child in the room.

"Mother, is it okay for us to stay here?" asked Jack.

"We'll see," she said indulgently.

From the genuine affection the woman had in her voice for the homicidal brat, Xanxus could already tell the woman was smitten with the little girl and was more than happy to act as Jack's Master to make her daughter happy.

"How did you end up in this mess?"

"My boyfriend thought it would be appropriate to use me as a sacrifice. Unfortunately for him, my little Jack prefers females," she replied.

Xanxus looked her in the eye and to her credit she didn't flinch.

"I don't give a shit what you do at night, so long as you leave us alone and don't draw the cops down on our ass. This is supposed to be a _secret_ war and I do not want the Mage's Association coming down on my head because you were getting carried away. Other than that, I'm sure Nonna would be more than happy to help you spoil the kid," said Xanxus.

"Belphegor refuses to humor me when it comes to hugs," pouted Daniela.

Xanxus was going to get very drunk and try not to think how his crazy-ass grandmother had managed to find Assassin of Black and then used her Sky charisma to convince both Servant and Master to stay in _his_ base. If she wanted to have a little girl to spoil, regardless of the fact the kid was a homicidal little shit, then it was her problem.

Besides, the kid reminded him of his old self a lot.

* * *

Xanxus...was not in a good mood. The shark had been out getting food, Daniela was doing 'girl stuff' with the woman and Jack, and he had been having a rather fun time with Mordred before Belphegor had walked in without knocking.

For a kid who kept claiming to be a genius, he could be a little idiot sometimes.

"Brat...what have I said about knocking?" he growled. Mordred was less than pleased, but was currently demolishing some of the food Squalo had brought back.

"I heard weird moaning in your room. What else was I supposed to think?" sulked Belphegor.

"Considering I was in there with Saber and the house was more or less deserted? That we were having sex," said Xanxus bluntly.

Squalo choked at that, and immediately attempted to leave the place. He was _not_ getting stuck listening to Xanxus giving the prince brat the Talk about how babies were made.

Too bad Mordred was making sure if she had to suffer through hearing it, Squalo did too.

"What's sex?" asked Belphegor.

"Something that if I catch you doing it with anyone before you're at _least_ fifteen, I will gut the ones touching you," said Xanxus bluntly. "Sex is something adults do for fun or to pass the time, and if they're doing it with someone under the age of puberty are assholes that deserve to die as slowly and painfully as possible."

"Hear, hear!" said Daniela with complete agreement.

"So why were you doing it?" asked Belphegor.

"Prana exchange," said Mordred immediately.

Everyone looked at her. Especially Xanxus.

"Seriously?" said Squalo incredulous.

Mordred shrugged.

"It's one of the ways a Master can replenish a Servant's power without having them devour people for it," said Mordred. "Though I am physically attracted to him the fact is that I mostly agreed to it to see if he was capable of giving me more prana in a more efficient manner."

Daniela's eyes gleamed.

"So how did my grandson rate in bed?" she asked slyly.

Xanxus exchanged a look with Squalo.

"We're taking the brats out for ice cream," announced Xanxus.

"Can I go?" asked Jack hopefully. She had tried ice cream with her mother and the odd woman who insisted she call her 'grandma' and liked it a lot!

"I said brats plural. You really think I'd take Belphegor out for something sweet and not include you?" said Xanxus dryly.

"Yay! I want more of that chocolate stuff Grandma shared with us!"

Xanxus scooped up Belphegor, who happily curled into his hold and took Jack's hand. He looked like a long-suffering older brother taking his younger siblings out for a sweet treat along with his best friend.

Daniela's eyes gleamed with dark amusement as she soon delved into girl talk with an increasingly unhappy Mordred.

The knight had spent too much time hiding their gender to feel entirely comfortable with the idea of talking with other women like this.

Sleeping with Xanxus was the first time she had allowed herself to step outside her comfort zone in a while. She could justify it all she wanted about testing to see if they could exchange more prana in a more efficient manner all she wanted. The simple fact was that she found her Master _highly_ attractive in several ways.

_With the boys_

Xanxus ruffled Belphegor's hair as he enjoyed the chocolate with strawberries. Jack was next to Squalo, eating her massive chocolate and vanilla sundae with sprinkles and caramel sauce.

"Brat, next time you hear sounds like that and you know it's just me and Saber in the room, ignore it. If someone is stupid enough to attack me while I'm in there, then they deserve whatever happens to them," said Xanxus flatly.

"Shishishi... is it true that the other faction has summoned the Impaling king who is the hero of this land?" asked Belphegor hopefully.

"Say what now?" said Squalo.

"Vlad the III, also called Vlad the Impaler. He's been summoned as a Lancer Servant in this thing because of the perks that he gets from being in Romania, where he's known as a 'hero' rather than a monster. Of course considering the _other_ part of his legend, there's a chance he could turn our allies into ghouls," said Xanxus in annoyance.

"Ka-ching. That travesty of fiction has done too much damage to our ancestral name," said Belphegor in disgust. "He was a king who ruled his lands properly and all the common peasants think about whenever his full name is mentioned is that stupid book!"

The book itself was acceptable enough as fiction, but the damage it had done to the royal line of Dracul was inexcuseable.

And that was _before_ one got into the travesty that was known as the _Twilight_ series.

Xanxus looked at his incensed Storm.

"You do know that it's also based off the historical evidence of Elizabeth Batheroy as well, right?"

"Yes, but people immediately think Vlad the Impaler whenever it's brought up, and not the Countess of Blood," sulked Belphegor.

"Feh. One man's hero is another man's villain. He went the extra mile to make sure the invaders didn't fuck with his people, and I can respect that in a king," said Xanxus.

He could tell from the bond he had with Bel that was the exact right thing to say. He had the sneaking suspicion it would get Lancer to look at him far more favorably than the other Masters.

Though thanks to the gentle teasing of his grandmother he had to act as bait for a few hours so Mordred could brutally murder anyone part of the war that wasn't part of their group. He couldn't really blame her.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the dream again. The hushed whisper of his mother looking extra paranoid about something, and terrified of being found. He could only vaguely recall her face and her voice, but the fear of being discovered by someone never faded.

Xanxus _hated_ that dream.

Squalo took one look at his expression and winced.

"Voi, the dream again?"

Xanxus said nothing, but his rising ire said volumes.

The strange thing was that he had seen the priest in the dream too, which happened rarely. He always took it as a warning sign of imminent danger.

Understandable since the two times he remembered the black haired priest, something disastrous happened.

The first time was when he _felt_ his mother dying, and knew there was no way to go to her because he was with the Vongola at the time stuck dealing with tutors. It had taken Daniela to figure out why he was keening so horribly in a way that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it, and had coaxed him into letting out his emotions. That had taken all of a week before he could reasonably function again.

The second time happened right before Enrico was killed off.

So yeah, he could equate that priest in his memories to mean something bad was about to go down.

"Priest?" asked Daniela.

Xanxus nodded. He focused on what little he remembered of the priest who had visited his ma shortly before she became lucid long enough to transfer her crest. While he was grateful to the man for helping her out, because some of those ingredients were well above what she could afford with her work, he still questioned why the man never took him away when things were getting worse with her.

Come to think of it, he would swear he had seen that face a second time, and recently too.

It wouldn't be until dinner while he was thinking on how to deal with Father Shirou that it hit him.

That creepy priest acting on behalf of the Church was the same one he remembered helping his Ma out.

Perhaps _he_ would have some answers as to why his Ma always looked like she was being hunted by someone. If he had an enemy out there, then he wanted to know who it was and where they were so he could put them down in a rather permanent manner.

"You're going out," said Daniela, her intuition warning her.

"I'll take Shark with me. Want to leave Saber behind in case of traps. Won't expect to see Shark there instead," said Xanxus.

"What are you talking about?" asked Mordred.

"I need to speak with that priest again. Something seems off about him, but he might have answers to something that's been bugging me a while. Besides, tomorrow's Sunday," said Xanxus.

"Ah. I would go with you, but someone has to keep your adorable little Storm in line and this means I can go shopping with the children," said Daniela.

"Voi. What sort of answers are you trying to find Boss?" asked Squalo.

"I recognize him, and not from the meeting we had earlier. He visited my Ma once when I was younger, shortly before she passed on her crest. I want to know how he knew her," said Xanxus.

Dead silence.

"We'll wait here for you dear," said Daniela.

If Father Shirou was surprised to see Xanxus again, he made no sign of it during the Sunday service.

He was entirely unsurprised when Xanxus stayed after the sermons were over.

"Have you reconsidered joining us?" he inquired.

"It took me a while, but I finally remembered you. You were the priest who helped my ma out when she transferred her mage crest to me and helped her to remain lucid for a full month so she could do the ritual correctly."

Complete and utter shock. That was the only way to describe the priest's expression.

"It can't be... Alexander?" said Shirou in disbelief. "I didn't even recognize you at all, it's been so long."

"Probably because I went by Xanxus, forgetting that it was a nickname I made up on the streets," commented the Wrath.

"I would ask how your mother is, but I was the one to perform her last rites. I was rather relieved you were not there to witness her death," said Shirou, his expression far more pleasant and no longer as calculating.

"I awakened my Wrath flames when I was eight, and Ma got it in her head that I was the son of the Ninth Vongola don. Next thing I know I'm shipped off to their territory to be raised as his son, and the bastard didn't even have the balls to tell me I was adopted," said Xanxus in disgust and annoyance.

"Normally I would say something about honoring one's father, but in this case he honestly does not deserve it for failing to tell you the truth. You were a good son to your mother for as long as she was on this earth, and that is all that matters," said Shirou firmly. "I take it you didn't come here to catch up, however."

"I know Ma was hunted. She was far too paranoid for it to be _just_ the drugs and she was always terrified of being found."

Shirou did not look surprised.

"I know who is after her and by extension you as well. That man was less than pleased learning he had failed to exterminate the entire family when he stole the Greater Grail and has made it a minor personal mission to completely wipe out the last remnant of the three original families."

"So you know what mage family Ma was from."

Shirou nodded. Alexander... no, _Xanxus_, was more than old enough to know the truth and would likely make it _his_ personal mission to kill Darnic, which Shirou would be more than happy to assist him with.

"Your original birth name is Alexander Tohsaka, son of Rina Tohsaka, granddaughter of the last family head. She only had the crest belonging to the heir of the Tohsaka clan, passed down by her father."

"What happened?" asked Xanxus.

"Simply put, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia happened."

"Wait... I know that name. He's the fucker Nonna is quite eager to put in the ground after she found out a freaking Nazi started up a Great Grail War in Europe and was possessing infants to stay youthful," frowned Xanxus.

Shirou did not twitch at that information.

"Yes, well he is the one who stole the Greater Grail from Fuyuki in the first place. As the Tohsaka are one of the three major families for creating the Heaven's Feel ritual, he made a point to insure none of their descendants would attempt to reclaim it by wiping out every member he could find."

"Are you telling me that Nazi fucker is the one who killed Ma? Why would he target the family anyway?" asked Xanxus, pissed.

"The Tohsaka are the Second Owner of Fuyuki and the lands around it, though they are currently under the ownership of the Church as the Tohsaka have always held a close connection to our faction despite being Mages," said Shirou simply. "I would recommend asking for assistance from Risei or Kirei Kotomine in regards to reclaiming your inheritance once the war is over. As I recall, my brother has possession of what remained of the Tohsaka mage crest after our father passed it on to him. Some of it was lost or damaged, but some of it was recovered from the body of your great-grandfather."

"Voi. So we have even more reason to kill that Nazi prick than before," said Squalo. It seemed this "Darnic" was only giving them more and _more_ incentive to see his ass dead.

The Rain had little doubt if the bastard survived this, Xanxus wouldn't hesitate to bring the full might of the Varia and possibly the Vongola down on his ass to see him wiped out.

"I take it you wanted to learn who was after your mother?" asked Shirou.

"I have one last question."

"One of her previous...customers...apparently knew of your flames and worked for another famiglia. He took it ill that she had given you up and thought she was lying when she said that the Vongola had taken you in as another heir. They were planning to kidnap you and mold you into their next don," said Shirou bluntly.

Xanxus saw red, and it wasn't just his eye color. You could feel his Wrath and Killing intent mixing interchangeably, gearing up to raze whatever famiglia ordered his mother's death to the ground.

"Who?" he growled.

"I give you my word I will tell you which famiglia was stupid enough to attack your mother before this war is over. Right now I would prefer it if your ire remained on Darnic," said Shirou. "I'm likely one of the few who is even aware of what happened. I also have the location of her grave."

Xanxus reigned in his temper.

"Thank you," he said.

"Before you leave, do you have any confessions you would like me to hear?" asked Shirou, changing the subject.

"Not at the moment."

"Then god be with you, my son," said Shirou.

"God be with you," said Xanxus and Squalo, leaving the church.

"Wait...so the priest who summoned Assassin is also the one who helped your mother transfer her mage crest?" said Mordred in shock.

"Apparently the family I belong to has an In with the Church, specifically the Kotomine family. Also, it seems the priest has his own reasons for wanting that Nazi shit dead so odds are he would at least have the decency to let us join in," said Xanxus, tearing into his steak.

Mordred had a rather odd expression on her face.

"We're not joining the Red faction, are we?"

"Fuck no. This was more of an informal truce for personal reasons and an agreement to assist in murdering the 'head' of the Black faction because he's trash who is going to be killed as brutally and messily as we can pull off as a warning not to fuck with us," said Xanxus with a scoff.

"Oh. Well that's acceptable then," said Mordred.

After being summoned she had immediately compared her Master to a phantasmal-level dragon the likes of which hadn't been seen since the age when Heroes were more likely to be made. Like the evil dragon Fafnir, who was taken out by Siegfried.

Someone had clearly set off all of the dragon's vengeful instincts in the absolute worst way.

Fortunately this Darnic character was already on their shit list because he was a Nazi and Daniela had a vested interest in seeing that lot dead in the most horrifying way she could devise. The only difference was that Xanxus was going to take a considerable amount of satisfaction murdering him and Daniela was likely to videotape it for later viewing. The fact the priest hated the man enough to openly assist in that particular endeavor was surprising, but then again the Kotomine family were likely still pissed that Darnic had killed off the Tohsaka.

Xanxus was fortunate in that he had been adopted by the Vongola so young...it made it considerably more difficult for Darnic to locate him and end the bloodline.

"So Master, what are we going to do tonight?"

Before Xanxus could answer, his phone rang.

"Hello? Father Shirou?"

You could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Saber of Black just self-terminated?" repeated Xanxus incredulous.

"Say what now?!" said Mordred. Xanxus held up a hand, before putting it on speakerphone.

"_Saber of Black, or rather Siegfried, removed his own heart and placed it into a homunculus that Rider of Black, or Astolfo, was attempting to help escape the war. Caster had some plans for the homunculus in question, but Ruler has intervened on his behalf so now it is considered a noncombatant. It's unclear what Saber's motivations are for his rather odd actions at this time,"_ said Father Shirou simply.

Since Xanxus was a devout son of the Church and was technically part of the Red faction, Shirou saw no reason not to keep the young man updated on the other masters. At least Xanxus had a cell phone he could call, which was far more useful than half the things the mages came up with.

Besides, he was somewhat partial to the assassin who showed him the proper respect due as a man of the cloth.

Mordred looked a little pissed hearing that.

"_Also it seems the Black faction has captured our Berserker, but considering our Caster goaded him in that direction it's not entirely surprising."_

"Caster?" asked Daniela.

"_Shakespeare,"_ he replied, and you could hear the shrug in his voice.

Daniela's eyes gleamed.

"Would anyone object if I ask that particular servant for his autograph?" she asked.

"Considering Bel is dead set on getting Vlad the Impaler's autograph before we properly kick things off, not really," Xanxus shot back.

"_If you wish to obtain his signature on some of his works, I'm sure we can arrange something,"_ offered Shirou.

He wasn't about to target people who weren't even getting involved and had mostly shown up to watch the fireworks, like Belphegor, Daniela and Squalo. And he wasn't going to use them as hostages because he actually _liked_ Xanxus to some extent.

To say Shakespeare was thrilled to have a fan among the 'peanut gallery' as Xanxus had flippantly called it, was an understatement. He was more than happy to sign any of his collective works that Daniela could get her hands on.

The part Shirou found more than slightly amusing was Atalanta's reaction to Belphegor and by extension Xanxus.

Atalanta saw how easily Xanxus calmed the exiled prince down form a massive tantrum, not even caring about the bloodlust and homicidal behavior the child was displaying and showed genuine affection towards the brat. It was actually somewhat entertaining seeing the way Mordred hissed at the Archer servant, as if warning the cat-eared female off her Master.

Shirou was not the only one who felt a great deal of amusement from this particular incident. He had the feeling things would develop into a highly entertaining "love triangle" if the look Atalanta was giving Xanxus was any indication.

Daniela cheerfully admitted she would bring the popcorn if that was the case.


	4. Chapter 4

Xanxus was dreaming again, except this time it seemed to be something out of Mordred's past. The armor was all period correct, as were the weapons.

Seeing Mordred fight her fellow knights, only to face someone who could have been her clone if not for the outfit and the weapon, he realized he was looking at King Arthur.

Huh...so Mordred wasn't the only one who history got the gender wrong. Good to know.

The thing that really pissed him off was the cold expression on Arthur's face when she killed Mordred, despite the fatal blow the Knight delivered to her king.

"_I have never hated you. If you want to know why I didn't give you the throne...It's because you don't have the capacity of a King."_

Xanxus woke up at the moment of Mordred's death, and he was pissed.

"Nh...go back to sleep, Boss," said Mordred with a yawn.

Xanxus wrapped his arm around her waist tightly.

He couldn't help but put himself in Mordred's place, with the old fart in Arthur's.

Though Timoteo was _nothing_ like the King of Knights, the comparison was impossible to ignore. It certainly explained why he summoned Mordred instead of someone else, not that he had any complaints.

Which was why he couldn't help but to ask over breakfast if Arthur really did deny Mordred's right to the throne even to the very end.

The expression on Mordred's face said volumes, as did the killing intent.

"I want to prove myself just as worthy to lead as he was! To show him that he was wrong and that I could be a king too!" said Mordred.

Xanxus couldn't help but snort at that, as the parallels between him and Mordred were becoming impossible to ignore.

Mordred glared at him.

"Why did you think I joined this shitfest in the first place?" he said calmly, ripping into his steak. "I found out the old bastard was keeping the fact I was adopted from me, and because of that I would never be able to inherit the throne of the Vongola because Grandma told me the rings were bloodlocked. I'm here to change that, or at least insure my position as heir is solidified to the point those rings won't reject me outright."

Pure and utter shock, before empathy filled Mordred's features.

"It seems we are more alike than I realized, Boss," said Mordred quietly.

"That's why we're going to prove to everyone that we can rule just as well as those fuckers, with or without their approval," said Xanxus.

Seeing the gleam in her eyes, Xanxus felt the kinship with Mordred grow.

She was someone who had a shitty start in life, being the homunculus clone of the King and told that she was his heir, despite the fact Arthur had no idea of her existence until she showed up out of the blue. Even at the end, after all her loyalty to the king, the bitch had the gall to deny her even one shred of acceptance.

Arthur might have been a latent Sky...but she was a shitty parent and even shittier leader. She would have been better off staying a general, rather than a king.

Xanxus, now that he had a reason to look back on it, was the same way. His Ma had been a decent mother, during her lucid periods, but Timoteo was a shit father.

To him, Xanxus was nothing more than a highly useful, but still expendable asset for his power base. He had known from the start that Xanxus wasn't his son and still lead him on anyways while heaping unreasonable expectations on him for years. If not for Daniela, he would have never become loyal to the Vongola.

Xanxus came to the hard realization that nothing he did would please Timoteo. He was just a slum brat with features that bore a striking resemblance to the Secundo and Wrath flames and no real blood connection to the Vongola. No matter what he did, there was no way the old bastard would ever acknowledge him as his real son, let alone hand over the status of Decimo.

It didn't take much to decide on a new wish. Looking at the form of Mordred, he realized he wanted her to have a second chance as well.

He needed to have a serious talk with his grandma.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Daniela looked at her vengeful grandson and sighed. It seemed that it was long past time they had this chat.

"Timoteo... he's lost his way. I can't say I understand even a fraction of what he's doing when he's starting to lead the family into a slow but steady destruction. It's going to take _years_ to clean up after Iemitsu alone, never mind the mess he's made of your brothers."

Out of the three 'official' heirs, only Federico had all six of his Guardians. And Enrico was far too arrogant to hold the rings, regardless of the fact he was the eldest.

"That old bastard isn't going to take my sudden refusal to answer his call down lightly. I need some tradition or law that will keep him from trying to put a noose around our neck."

"Actually there _is_ one thing I can think of that would keep him from trying to cage you and the Varia," admitted Daniela. "But using this particular law would result in insuring that things never get settled between you."

"What is it?"

"You remember how short the reign of the sixth was, and how quickly the seventh took his place? How there were suspicions the seventh had the man murdered and took the rings by force?"

"Vaguely."

"Well the boss before Tyr decided that since the seventh was cagey enough to stab his own cousin in the back for his position that he couldn't be trusted to lead the Vongola properly. So he temporarily removed the Varia from a Vongola-exclusive payroll and opened up contracts to the rest of the Alliance until a new Don or Donna, was chosen to lead the family. After all, how can you trust a kinslayer to put the family first?" said Daniela reluctantly.

Xanxus stared.

"You think it would work?"

"Timoteo listens far too much to Iemitsu, who has already made it abundantly clear that he is dead set against the Varia for some ridiculous reason, despite being the External Adviser. If you can find some dirt on Iemitsu that proves he doesn't have the family's best interest at heart, then you can legally remove the Varia from Vongola control until the next boss is chosen. However I would advise abdicating your position as heir unless all the ones ahead of you are taken out, citing that the Ninth would refuse to acknowledge your claim over your brothers without overwhelming support. That way no one can say you're trying to take the position by force over your brother's claims to the rings."

Xanxus didn't like it, but he was above all a practical man at heart.

Timoteo would never hand over the title of Decimo to a bastard child he had picked up from the slums with no real blood connection to the family over his own heirs and Iemitsu hated Xanxus from the start.

It made far more tactical sense to remove the Varia from the equation until a new leader was picked...and Xanxus had the perfect excuse for why he was doing it without dragging up the fact he no longer trusted the Ninth.

Timoteo was at old, and had held the reigns since he was eighteen. His sons were all more than old enough to take over as don, but outside of picking his heir he had yet to hand over the throne of the Vongola to any of them. He could claim that none of them were ready, as only Federico had all his guardians, but the fact was that he hadn't exactly _encouraged_ them to find proper guardians that would benefit the family either.

He was going to claim the Ninth was suffering from complacency and was too greedy to hand over his power as the Vongola don to the younger generation because he liked being in charge. All he needed was something that would put the rest of the Alliance on _his_ side, and no one would question why the Varia was on neutral terms with their famiglia until a new don was chosen.

The fact it meant he could ignore all those stupid meetings the old bastard insisted on that had no real impact was a major bonus.

"He's not going to take this down lightly, you know. God knows that jackass Iemitsu will spin this on us planning some sort of coup to overthrow the Ninth and take his spot," said Xanxus.

Daniela grimaced.

"Is there anything I should look out for if the Ninth actually believes that crap enough to act?"

Daniela thought that over.

"Well there is one thing, but he would have to be a complete fool to use it."

"He has _Iemitsu_ as his External Adviser and put the man who can barely do field work in a position that requires being tied to a desk," Xanxus reminded her. "I bet you anything if Lal Mirch wasn't there the entire thing would have fallen apart already, taking the Vongola down with it."

Daniela grimaced.

"Point. Alright, there is a technique that's been passed down from the Primo's time, but it's incredibly difficult to use and only the dons or their immediate heirs are allowed to know it. That plus the longest anyone was ever held in it was a week and that was to prepare for the executions."

Xanxus did not like hearing about the "Zero Point Breakthrough" or what it did, and was appropriately wary of anything that inverted flames to the point it became _ice_. A brief demonstration of it and how to activate it was all the warning he needed to kick his men into gear once they got home just in case the Ninth decided he didn't like having a large group of crazy ass assassins with vague loyalties to the Vongola outside his control and tried to eliminate them.

Just the thought of being caged in that ice completely, rather than just his left hand, was utterly _terrifying_.

Once he had his thoughts in order, and a long chat with Squalo later with copious amounts of booze once the ramifications of what he had planned sunk in, Xanxus made a call.

If he was going to do this, then he wanted it done _properly_ in a way that the old bastard wouldn't see coming.

"So Boss, what devilish schemes are you concocting now?"

"A slightly more legal rendition of what you did when you broke off with your king, except I'm planning to lay low and wait until the old man's bullshit comes back to bite him in the ass and let him stew in it," said Xanxus bluntly.

Dead silence.

"What?" said Mordred baffled.

"The Varia are going to discreetly remove themselves from the Vongola until a new head of the family is chosen and takes on the mantle of Decimo," clarified Xanxus. "That old bastard has gotten complacent from all his years in power and maybe this will shake things up enough that he gets off his ass and lets one of his sons take over."

"You do recall how that ended for me, right?" said Mordred dubiously.

"Here's the thing... we're not going to actively revolt. This is just my way of saying I ain't cleaning up after Iemitsu or the old fart's shit anymore without a damn good reason. It also means I don't have to listen to his demands to visit the Iron Fort unless it's an emergency that would destroy the family or cause enough trouble that the Vindice themselves get involved," clarified Xanxus. "I'm sick of listening to their bullshit and having to deal with his 'disappointment' that I turned out to be more of a half-grown tiger cub instead of the half-feral house cat he wanted. All I have to do is prove they fucked up royally in a way that would have the other families clamoring for their heads, and the Varia would become a neutral party that will only answer to the next don since the current one has lost his damn mind."

He was already texting Mammon, who was a master at getting information, into looking into Iemitsu's personal life. He had heard vague rumors the man had a wife and son, but no one had stepped forward which was highly unusual. There was no point looking into the old man...anything incriminating would have been buried too deep to find without setting off waves first. Iemitsu wasn't as strigent and had no guardians to do the same for him, and his position wasn't as high profile as the Vongola Don.

Considering no one really _liked_ that smarmy bastard, Mammon agreed to do it for a hefty discount. Besides, it was highly suspicious that a known Sky like Iemitsu didn't have a _single_ guardian or any potential ones sniffing about.

Mammon heard enough bitching from Lal about the man, so for their own hearing they decided not to bring her in. besides, if they did this right the failed Rain Arcobaleno would likely jump ship on their own.

She might be a masochist when it came to crappy employers, but she wasn't stupid enough to stick around when it was clear her superiors had brought their own destruction on themselves.

Mordred looked dubious.

"There is one thing I would like to ask, if you feel up to answering. If it's too personal I won't bring it up again," said Squalo.

"What's that?" asked Mordred.

"Why did you rebel against the king?" asked Squalo.

Mordred tensed, but at least the shark had made it clear she didn't have to answer if it was too personal.

"I'm betting it has something to do with the fact they were a perfect general, but a shitty king," said Xanxus.

"Eh?! What do you mean by that?!" demanded Mordred irate.

"No ambition, no greed, no real goal in life outside of creating a kingdom and defending it from outside forces. And those weird dreams I keep getting show the twit didn't even bother to try and get to know their people on a personal level," rumbled Xanxus. "Just look at the mess that happened with Lancelot, and the fact the king had no other heirs beside you."

Mordred's fury simmered down slightly.

"Arthur's true name was Arturia. No way would the peasants accept a woman as king, and they were picked early enough that their figure hadn't fully developed into a female," admitted Mordred.

"I figured that much," said Xanxus.

"As for why I rebelled... when I found out I was Arthur's child, they refused to make me heir. He wouldn't even turn to face me or acknowledge me as their blood. I was happy enough being in the king's shadow, but for him to deny my bloodline was too much to bear. I had to destroy what he created, to force him to acknowledge me. Right to the end, he denied my chance to be king," said Mordred, fury and pain evident in their features.

Squalo had an uncomfortable look on his face and shot Xanxus a glance. Suddenly his decision to remove to make the Varia temporarily autonomous from Vongola control made horrifying sense.

"Tch. A king who has no dreams or ambition holds little more than a glass crown. Eventually his people would have revolted against him because they were tired of his hollow nature and demand someone with more substance took the throne," said Xanxus flatly. "If anything, you've already demonstrated more concern for your potential subjects than he did without hiding behind a fake mask of perfection."

Mordred's fury swiftly turned into a blush. It didn't help that she considered her Master more of a 'king' (albeit with the force of a dragon) than her father had ever been.

There was a reason why she allowed the dragon-king into her bed, and slept with him, and it had nothing to do with prana-exchange.

Xanxus looked at Mordred, red eyes staring her down as if he could look right into her soul.

"Humanity cannot tolerate the idea of perfection. They would rather have a king with a few flaws than one who would not lower their pride long enough to show their real self to even their closest companions. King Arthur might have been a good general during war times, but he was a shit king during peace. If he had any real balls he would have at least acknowledged you as his son, rather than pretend that you didn't exist."

Mordred felt a strange warmth bubble up in her chest. It spread throughout her entire being and made her feel safe and wanted, and she knew it came from Xanxus himself. Feeling his hand on her head, she didn't even try to fight off the blush on her face.

_He_ was her king now and she would gladly kill anyone who opposed him.

"Voi... Welcome to the group," said Squalo dryly, correctly guessing Mordred had somehow harmonized with Xanxus. Either that or she resonated with him, it was hard to tell.


	5. Chapter 5

Belphegor's eyes gleamed as he dashed across the grounds of the battlefield.

Of the two sides, only the dragon tooth warriors ignored his presence, but it took the homunculus far too long to register him as a threat.

Especially in the face of Assassin, who was killing them all with glee and had decided to make a game of who could kill the most homunculi with their blades.

Belphegor had reluctantly come to accept Jack as a surrogate 'sister' of sorts, as the two now had a rather friendly sibling rivalry going on.

Mostly because they found a common interest in murdering others and trying to one up each other in creativity and quantity.

Seeing a large number of homunculi and a few golems nearby, Belphegor sneered.

He pulled out his trump card, something he didn't really like using because it was rather exhausting and left him exposed to attack.

It was the reason he had survived when his 'brother' attempted to murder him, because his parents had no idea he had found a secret path into the vault and stolen this particular artifact.

After he found a way to use it, he had discovered that it had somehow activated a part of his mage crest that had been dormant for centuries. The only issue being that he couldn't really keep it up for long.

"Ushishishi... foolish peasants, fear the wrath of the line of Dracul!" sneered Belphegor.

He pulled out a dagger that he kept around his neck and said the aria that would activate the ability.

"_Barbarians that trample over my territory,_

_now it's time for your punishment!_

_I will turn my mercy and anger into burning stakes_

_and skewer all of you!_

_My stakes are infinite,_

_so despair as you taste your own blood!_

_(Lord of Execution)_

_Kaziklu Bey!"_

Belphegor felt euphoria and delight as the spears tested his right to the name of Dracul, and found him worthy. Spears manifested directly under the intruders, impaling them instantly without any chance to defend.

"Ushishishi! Bow before the royal line of Dracul, peasants!" cackled Belphegor with rabid delight at the sight of blood.

Just then, he narrowly dodged another spear aimed at him.

"Who dares to use my Noble Phantasm without permission?" snarled a voice.

Belphegor stared in awe at the figure on the horse. He looked exactly like the old portraits did in his old home.

"It's you... it really is you! The great king Vlad the third, son of the dragon!" said Belphegor with open glee and delight.

Vlad III, or "Lancer" stared at the boy with dark amusement.

"Who are you and how did you obtain my Noble Phantasm?" he demanded. Though he sounded considerably less pissed at the obvious awe and respect the child had for him.

"I am Prince Azreal, royal heir to the throne of Dracul, my king," said Belphegor respectfully. "However I was exiled after my twin decided he didn't want the 'spare' around, so I have been gaining work experience under another king. I go by Belphegor these days."

Lancer looked at him in disbelief.

"The royal line of Dracul remains? Why did Darnic not inform me of this?"

"The peasants have mostly forgotten their place. Most royal lines are mere showpieces these days, save for isolated countries. Unfortunately that wretched book has forced us to hide Our royal bloodline to avoid the humiliation," scowled Belphegor. "To say nothing of the many, many travesties it has spawned over the years."

Any ire towards Belphegor died at the rather vehement way he cursed the classic known as "Dracula". Any real son of his bloodline would despise that blasted book and everything to do with it.

Belphegor looked at Lancer hopefully, despite the fact his eyes were hidden.

"Ah... can I have your autograph?" he asked sheepishly.

Lancer blinked twice, before a smirk appeared on his face.

Once Belphegor had the signature of his Royal ancestor, he made sure to contact Squalo.

"Voi! You had better remember your part of the deal brat. Boss let you speak with your ancestor, so you stick with that crazy old woman from now on," said Squalo, picking up Belphegor. He had already helped Jack collect the hearts of the homunculi Belphegor had killed, as well as all the ones she had taken out herself. She wasn't going to be running out of power any time soon, despite the fact her mother couldn't charge her up the same way a Magus could.

Squalo looked at Lancer, and was mildly impressed.

"Who are you?" demanded Lancer.

"Voi. I'm the knight and right hand of the king that took Belphegor in after he ran away," said Squalo bluntly.

At least that was how Mordred had put it anyway.

"Ushishishi...what's the matter shark-peasant, are you in awe being in front of actual royalty?"

"...Just for that I'm telling Daniela to put you and Jack in matching outfits," deadpanned Squalo.

By that point the side effects of using his ancestors Noble Phantasm kicked in, and he ended up crashing while Squalo carried him.

Squalo found it very telling Lancer didn't try to kill them, but then again he was probably too busy trying to defeat the Lancer servant of the Red faction.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit, shit... who the fuck told you that you could drive!" shouted Xanxus. Next time he was buying her a damn motorcycle and fucking flying to the battlefield solo!

"Quit complaining! It's your own damn fault we're getting to the fun stuff so late!" shouted Mordred with glee, thoroughly enjoying the speeds she had access to in the rather cheap car.

Xanxus made a note to ban Mordred from driving him anywhere ever again unless it was an absolute emergency and he had no other choice.

Every time they hit a bump, he was worried that the insane Servant would send the car flying and the flimsy seat belts wouldn't do jack about keeping him alive.

Finally they found a Servant for Mordred to fight.

"I am never letting you drive again. Next time I'm getting us some motorcycles and fucking driving myself!" said Xanxus irate.

"I got us here! What are you complaining about?" said Mordred.

"Your idea of driving is akin to that idiot Skull from the Arcobaleno! Not all of us can survive a car crash at those speeds!" snapped Xanxus.

Mordred pouted.

"Tch... have fun fighting him," said Xanxus, getting into the driver's side. Good thing this was a _stolen_ car, because there was no way in hell he was paying for a replacement.

"You're not sticking around?"

"I'll be nearby to watch your fight... But I would rather appreciate it from a distance. In case you've forgotten, not every Servant is as 'nice' to observers and the easiest way to take one out is to kill the Master," said Xanxus flatly.

"...Point. Be sure to video tape it for later," said Mordred.

Xanxus held up the Varia-quality camera. Mordred grinned.

He sped off, and taking a lot more care about _his_ driving than Mordred did.

On second thought he could reserve riding in the car with Mordred as the driver as the perfect punishment for people who annoyed him too much. Or perhaps to any CEDEF moles they found...it was terrifying enough to make a point.

Xanxus watched the fight between Mordred and Rider...it was a good thing the Varia invested in the highest quality cameras, especially with a long range zoom. He was able to get a decent video of the two fighting.

So you could imagine his shock seeing Saber of Black appear where that homunculus kid had been. And he caught the entire thing on camera.

It was a good thing he was so far back...he got the perfect recording of Mordred's Noble Phantasm going off against the other Saber, and the lense was good enough that it didn't crack from the sheer power released.

He had the feeling Mordred was going to be in a _very_ good mood, since she got to fight _multiple_ Servants and defeat one of them.

He wondered if it was normal to get a major boner from seeing that much power released. And if Mordred would be interested in doing a bit more damage to the car that they would have to ditch anyway.

He had to smirk when Mordred beheaded the stupid bitch who was clearly getting off on torturing both Rider and the homunculus brat by making her Servant kill the kid slowly and painfully.

He might want to brutally murder Darnic, but he preferred to do that sort of thing himself rather than force Mordred or his Elements to do it. Besides, there was something far more satisfying about doing the deed yourself.

As they drove off, Xanxus eyed Mordred.

"...How would you feel about doing a little damage to the backseat of the car?"

Mordred blinked, before she looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean?"

"Seeing you go all out against another Servant like that, especially Saber, got me interested in something else," he said with a smirk.

Mordred stared at him.

"You mean you got a boner watching me fight?"

"Absol-fucking-lutely! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find anyone who can keep up with me in terms of doing widescale damage like that _and_ is single?!" said Xanxus. "Hell, it wouldn't have mattered to me if you were a guy or a girl after seeing that display!"

Mordred couldn't help her blush hearing that. She had no idea her new King got off on seeing displays of power...though once she got over her shock a wicked smirk appeared on her face.

"Then I suppose _someone_ is going to have to make it worth my while," she said cheekily.

Xanxus let out a possessive growl at that.

"Is that a challenge?"

"I saying I want to see how _much_ you enjoyed my fight..._Master_," said Mordred with a smirk.

Xanxus was way more fun than her fellow knights had been. They were always too caught up in that ridiculous notion of saving themselves for their king, who was beyond repressed because she couldn't reveal her true gender.

Though when he realized Darnic would be up in the Red Faction's stronghold, alone and with a weakened Servant...well, he couldn't resist the idea of taking the bastard out with Mordred taping.

With any luck seeing a bit of his power would get her interest as perked up as his own was at the moment.

* * *

Darnic sneered at his Servant, fully prepared to unleash the Noble Phantasm that Lancer despised. He hated being reminded of that book, so forcing him to take that form would almost certainly make him _very_ murderous towards his own Master.

He didn't care...he wanted _his_ Grail back and he wasn't going to let the Red faction have it.

Seeing the difficulty Lancer was having against his counterpart, Darnic sneered.

He would have his Grail back, one way or another...even if it meant forcing his Servant to take that form.

Unseen by Darnic, another figure had slipped into the shadows and was preparing to strike.

Xanxus was quiet...waiting for the perfect moment to gut the bastard before him.

Seeing Darnic about to order Lancer to take the form of Dracula, which he absolutely _loathed_, Xanxus barely withheld a smirk.

The only warning Darnic had of his imminent demise was the sensation of a massive pissed off dragon about to eat him.

Xanxus blew off his right arm, and with it the command seals to Lancer of Black.

"You... who are you?" demanded Darnic.

Xanxus' sneer was utterly terrifying and his aura held all the same power as a dragon.

"My name...is Alexander Tohsaka. Consider what I'm about to do to you as reperations for what you did to my clan when you stole the Grail, you pathetic fucker," said Xanxus. He paused for a moment. "Well, that and for being stupid enough to join the fucking Nazis. It's a pity Grandma ain't here to see what I'm about to do to you because I know she enjoyed setting you fuckers on fire a lot."

Darnic wasn't the only one to blink at that comment.

"Grandma?" he repeated incredulous. How many of that clan did he _miss_?

"Daniela Vongola, Eighth Don of the Vongola famiglia, sends her regards. See you in hell, fucker," said Xanxus.

With a speed most wouldn't attribute to someone his size, Xanxus appeared before Darnic and happily gutted him, before sticking a pair of knives in his back and performing a textbook perfect blood eagle. Then for good measure he crushed Darnic's throat.

Vlad III looked at Xanxus, torn between pissed and amused.

"Who are you?" asked Karna.

"Xanxus di Varia, Master of Saber of Red," he replied. "I had a major score to settle with this fucker and I didn't want Saber to have all the fun. Besides, this way he can't force Lancer of Black to turn into his so-called 'namesake' just to insure he gets the Grail back."

Vlad looked pissed, but now it was aimed at Darnic. Considering he hadn't been aware that his Master was even there until the man spoke up, that particular scenario seemed far too likely. Darnic was obsessed with the Grail.

"I suppose I should thank you. At least now I have a chance to go out with dignity instead of that mockery of myself."

Xanxus smirked.

"Consider us even. After all, you did humor that bratty prince I took in when he asked for your autograph. Figured saving you that embarassment was the least I could do in return," he replied back.

On an unrelated note, after Mordred saw a fraction of how Xanxus killed Darnic, she dragged him to the first room she could find that was empty and had her way with him.

She had zero regrets bedding her dragon of a Master, especially when he put on displays like _that_ to his enemies. She was rather pleased he was just as turned on seeing her go all out...it was nice to be appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

Xanxus looked at the massive golem with annoyance. For this, Ruler had forcibly summoned _his_ Saber to her?

It was a good thing he was nearby, otherwise Mordred would have been alone and surrounded by enemy Servants.

"Tch. What a pain in the ass," he complained.

He loaded up his bigger bullets and took aim. These were his "special" bullets that were laced with runes for a bigger blast and impact, and were akin to small explosives when used. He didn't like bringing them out because they were a monumental pain in the ass to replace and the materials were expensive enough to make Mammon bitch about them.

With a single blast, he took out one of the golem's legs.

Everyone's eyes turned to him, and Mordred's eyes gained a rather interested gleam in them.

"Tch...fucking trash. Return to the earth where you belong," sneered Xanxus.

He channeled his prana into his guns, and fired again. His special flames made it a bit more difficult for the golem to up and regenerate for a few seconds as it disintegrated even the magic holding the thing together. The only problem was that he didn't have enough bullets to finish the thing off himself and he wasn't going to waste them trying.

"Hold it off for now, Master!" shouted Mordred.

"Like you need to tell me that!" said Xanxus.

"No way...that's Saber's Master?" said Caules in shock.

Fiore couldn't help but stare... but quickly focused on the task at hand. Even if a primal part of her found the man highly attractive to look at.

Hearing the sound of the guns firing, the two Sabers and Archer focused on taking down the beast. If left alone for much longer it would become impossible to get rid of and take out the rest of humanity with it.

There was something on Xanxus' face that made Ruler very uncomfortable when he saw Mordred helping Sieg take down the golem. The fact Mordred had a similar expression on her face did not make it any better.

"Heh! I knew you were strong, Boss, but I never expected those tiny guns of yours to pack such a punch!" said Mordred, patting Xanxus on the back with enough force to make a grown man stumble.

For him, he bore it with ease.

"Like you expected anything else?" said Xanxus.

Seeing Archer nearby, he had to wonder at the look the horse-tailed man was giving him.

"You got a problem?" growled Xanxus.

"It's nothing. I just never thought I would encounter a child blessed by Hephaestus in this day and age."

Xanxus blinked.

Archer's Master looked at him.

"Hephaestus, as in the Greek god of fire and craftsman? Son of Zeus?" asked Fiore confused.

"I can sense the divine aura of Hephaestus coming from him...his blood must not have diluted much since his ancestor procreated with the god," said Archer.

Xanxus... stared.

"That...would explain a lot," admitted Xanxus.

He had never really wondered at his knack for the forge, or why he found it easy to make his special bullets when his own tutors had such trouble with it. Then again his Origin was Forge and his Element was Fire that was so potent it put even the Fire-mage who trained him to shame.

Come to think of it, if he remembered correctly the Tohsaka were a clan of Gem-based mages. Which would also explain why his special bullets only really worked correctly when he put in the ground-up remains of gems that took to flames. The tricky part was figuring out which gems would take to his Wrath best without exploding.

Which was the main reason Mammon bitched about the price of them so much... bribing Talbot for help in that regard damn near bankrupted his personal accounts, and that was _with_ Daniela pulling a few strings to acquire the gems he needed.

The idea that he had the blood of the god known for forge work, was not as far-fetched as one would think. The first time Talbot had given him access to a minor forge meant for low-level rings, he had felt right at home and managed to produce an almost acceptable C-class ring on his first try, with limited instruction from the ring-smith.

That had been the best eighteen months of his life. Though at least now he knew why he had such a natural affinity for gems and ring-smithing in the first place, not that the old fart knew about it.

It was at that time that Xanxus' phone rang.

"What is it, shark trash?" demanded Xanxus, after a brief glimpse at his screen. "What do you mean Nonna got the bratlings hopped up on sugar?"

Mordred winced hearing that.

"Do I _look_ like their damn mother? Put the brats in time-out or dose them with enough Rain to knock their asses out until it passes! Hell, go find a few Magi or killers and let the brats wear themselves out for all I care, just remember to dispose of the evidence!" snapped Xanxus.

He hung up before Squalo could bitch any further, only to find the incredulous stares of the others.

"What? Do you have any idea how annoying it is dealing with murderous little shits under ten when they're not bouncing off the walls from a sugar high?" he demanded.

"I am soooo glad we're not there for him to dump it on us," said Mordred with a shudder.

"If he can't handle those two, then he isn't Quality," said Xanxus grumpily. He was not dealing with sugar-high pre-teen assassins capable of killing a grown man within seconds.

Let the shark deal with that shit.

"Why would someone be calling you to deal with two kids hopped up on sugar all the way here?" asked the homunculus kid who turned into Saber.

"Boss brought three people with him and then his grandma decided to kidnap Assassin of Black because...and I am quoting her on this, 'she is too adorably homicidal not to adopt'," deadpanned Mordred.

"It's best not to question Vongola-level crazy, especially when grandma has enablers who are all too happy to go along with her insane schemes," said Xanxus bemused. "Besides, she likes kids and that particular bratling is surprisingly well behaved compared to Bel."

"You know where Assassin of Black is?!" said Ruler in shock.

She wasn't the only one to stare at the two in shock.

"Again, both her and her civilian Master were kidnapped by Grandma. She's currently being spoiled rotten by that crazy old bat," said Xanxus shrugging.

As if a Servant and Master being picked up by a crazy old woman who spoiled said Servant was normal to him.

He still didn't know why the Black faction thought he gave a shit about Father Shirou's big plans for the Grail.

"So just to be clear, you're all up in arms because you think he has plans to wipe out humanity using the Grail. What does this have to do with me?" drawled Xanxus.

"Unless we know what he has planned, it should concern anyone with sense!" said Fiore.

Xanxus looked at Ruler.

"Question... is Father Shirou an actual Saint summoned by the Grail?"

"From what I understand, he was reincarnated at some point after being summoned and taken in by the Kotomine family. I suppose it is only natural he would become part of the Church, considering our faith," said Ruler calmly.

"Then my answer to whether or not I give a shit about this whole mess is simple. I'm claiming neutrality and staying out of it."

"Staying out of it?!" said Fiore, as if the concept was ridiculous. "You're a Master in the Grail War, you can't exactly 'stay out of it'!"

Xanxus leveled a glare at her.

"Unlike you idiots, I happen to be Catholic. And this looks entirely too much like God setting up a trial for humanity, only this time it's a pissing contest between Saints. Besides, in spite of whatever beef he has against you lot, he hasn't actually done anything that would warrant me going after him personally. And I happen to enjoy living."

"What does being Catholic have to do with anything?" asked Seig confused.

Ruler winced.

"A good Catholic wouldn't target a man of the cloth, and in spite of the fact he's a Servant he is an ordained priest," she clarified.

When Xanxus put it like that, she could completely understand why he didn't want to be part of this.

"When Father Shirou heard what my actual wish _was,_ he happened to be kind enough to explain what the Grail is actually capable of. Besides, he's agreed to use it's power for an alternate wish of mine in exchange for not getting in his way."

"How can you stand there and allow him to use the Grail! Have you no pride as a Magus?" demanded Gordes.

"No, I don't. Unlike you I wasn't raised by some big family and had to grow up on the streets cause my Ma was a whore."

"That's not a very nice thing to say about your mother," chided Ruler.

"No, I mean she was an actual whore," clarified Xanxus. "Thanks to that fool Darnic, my Ma's family had to go into hiding or they would have been wiped out because he didn't want anyone coming after that stupid Grail. If not for the Kotomine family, I wouldn't be here today. Besides, Father Shirou is the only reason I was able to inherit Ma's mage crest in the first place considering how addled her mind was."

"What family are you from?" asked Fiore.

"According to Father Shirou, I'm the last remnant of the Tohsaka. The _same_ Tohsaka clan that Darnic wiped out in order to steal the Grail," said Xanxus flatly, glaring at them all and daring them to try something. "Apparently my great-grandfather was smart enough to hide his heir with the Kotomine family before the war began, which was why it wasn't wiped out...though he also mentioned that Darnic did try to find out where the last remnants were."

"So... you're not helping us because Darnic tried to wipe out your family?" asked Astolfo.

"No. I'm not getting into this because I'm Catholic and despite his oddities, Father Shirou isn't actually harming the innocent while hiding behind the cloth. Outside of his rather unorthodox methods, he hasn't actually _done_ anything that would warrant a personal visit from someone like me," deadpanned Xanxus.

"That...actually makes way too much sense," admitted Ruler. Seeing the looks she was getting from the Magi, she bristled a bit. "If I wasn't summoned by the Grail specifically to stop whatever he's planning because he's an abnormal Servant breaking the Rules of the Grail War, I would actually be on Xanxus' side on this one. If he was an actual _Magus_ or living human doing this, I highly doubt God would have cared enough to summon me in the first place."

"The Church might not be lily white, but at least they don't have morons running around experimenting on _children_ and turning entire towns into ghoul-infested hell holes that need to be purged with depressing regularity," said Xanxus. "Dear lord the whining I have to put up with whenever one of _those_ missions comes up..."

Ruler looked sympathetic.

"Let me guess, your men don't appreciate the cleaning up?"

"Actually it's because they're all idiots who want to recreate any number of zombie movies and far too many want to join in. however since I usually deal with the Church that limits the number of people I can safely take with me that are actually competent and haven't pissed me off recently," admitted Xanxus. "Even _if_ the Executors love having us around because it means they don't have to waste as much cannon fodder and I always bring people who are actually competent."

"What the hell did you expect, with a castle full of bored assassins? Ghouls are way more fun than the living and you don't have to hear people whine about collateral damage!" said Mordred, rolling her eyes.

If Xanxus cared about the wide-eyed stares he was getting from the Magus in the room, he ignored it.

"In any case I am not getting into a pissing contest between two Saints. I very much prefer living and this is clearly a case of 'not my problem' since I killed that trash who used to lead you people."

"How can you just walk away from this? This is serious!" said Caules.

"I'm part of the Cosa Nostra, trash. The only reason _I _am even involved in this mess is because my grandmother pulled strings and it seemed to be the easiest way to get my hands on certain books to further what little magecraft I know. Besides, the second Grandma found out there was an actual Nazi that ate the souls of infants running around in this war she practically demanded I bring her with me so she could burn the fucker to the ground," deadpanned Xanxus. "I could care less about the Root."

"Very well," said Ruler. "I'll acknowledge your request not to be part of this operation. However I would like assurances that you won't attack anyone after this is over."

"Once your dispute with Father Shirou is dealt with, I'm heading home. I've been away from my crazies for far too long anyway, and they happen to like Saber," said Xanxus. He paused. "Though Grandma might be taking Assassin and her master with us."

"You know where our Assassin is?" asked Fiore.

"Grandma spotted Jack coming out of an alleyway, covered in blood with her Master next to her and thought the brat was 'adorably homicidal'. She brought them back to the hotel room and has been spoiling the Servant ever since," said Xanxus flatly.

Complete and utter silence.

"And she's _okay_ with having someone like Jack the Ripper around her?!" said Caules.

"Why wouldn't she be? The brat's not that much different from Bel, and he's a homicidal little shit to begin with. Besides, he's calmed down after he got that autograph from Vlad Tepes," shrugged Xanxus.

Several of them blinked.

"Why would this 'Bel' want Lancer's autograph?" asked Chiron, taking the bullet for that question.

"Something about Vlad the Impaler being his royal ancestor. I don't know what royal line he's part of, but I'm inclined to believe it considering how bloodthirsty he is. He was certainly offended enough about _Dracula_ for it to be true," admitted Mordred. "Besides, only those born into royalty have that sort of air around them and the kid has it."

Fiore twitched.

"Are you telling me Prince Azrael is in the country right now and no one thought to inform us?!"

Xanxus blinked.

"His real name is Prince Azrael? There is no way that little shit is going to live that one down!" he grinned wickedly.

"What's so funny about his name?" asked Seig.

"Azrael is also known as the 'angel of death' in the Bible," clarified Ruler helpfully.

Fiore was currently fuming because the Prince of Romania was siding with someone other than their faction. Then again no one was entirely certain where the prince had disappeared to over a year ago after he accidentally bonded with the remnant of his ancestor's Noble Phantasm and activated it, killing his older twin brother Rasiel.

Considering very few of the royal line had been able to use it at all, his claim on the throne took precedence over his older twin.


	7. Chapter 7

It was a sad thing indeed when the bloodthirsty mafioso had more morals than a Magus. Then again that was normal.

At least Father Shirou was 'kind' enough to leave them out of it, though after the attempt on Jack the group was forced to relocate to the Red faction's fortress.

Considering Xanxus didn't give a damn about the Grail at this point and was actually on _good_ terms with Father Shirou, Semiramis was nice enough not to do the same thing she did to the other Masters.

In other words he got to actually explore her fortress without having to worry about being poisoned or killed in the process.

The thing that most of the group found _highly_ amusing was the fact that Mordred and Atalanta kept getting into discreet cat fights over something.

It was highly amusing for many, especially Achilles who found the entire situation hilarious, and because Atalanta had cat ears.

"Achilles, if you don't stop snickering I will hurt you. Badly," said Atalanta.

"Oh come on, how do you not find this hilarious! I mean what are the odds you'd have a crush on a Child of Hephaestus who also happens to be a dragon in human form?" said Achilles, who squawked when Atalanta took out her increasing ire on him by using him as target practice.

"I still don't get her fascination with him," admitted Semiramis.

"I believe it has something to do with the fact she was hit with the full force of Sky Attraction, combined with the fact he apparently has a habit of taking in children who are broken in a way that society would never accept," commented Shirou amused. Achilles was right, this was a hilarious development and one he never really saw coming.

Atalanta wanted all children to be loved, so meeting Belphegor who couldn't really hide his natural inclination to murder others or his bloodlust whenever he was bleeding and watching how easily Xanxus accepted the child's broken nature and still treated the exiled prince as a child without treating him like a monster appealed to her greatly. And she could tell there was genuine affection for the prince as a surrogate younger brother.

Xanxus clearly had a natural attraction to strays that were broken in some way and his Sky flames allowed him to make them "whole" enough to pass socially acceptable norms.

The fact he was rather handsome and felt like a dragon was just bonus, even if neither of the two Greek heroes had realized he was a descendant of Hephaestus until they overheard Chiron mentioned it after they took out Caster's golem.

Though in hindsight that particular connection made perfect sense.

"Now, now children...there's no need to tease Archer about her crush on Xanxus," said Shirou, trying not to laugh.

Seriously, if it wasn't for the Grail War going on he'd be making popcorn watching this amusing spectacle of a love triangle take place. It was entirely too amusing!

"I do not have a crush on that dragon!" said Atalanta, though her blush said otherwise.

Achilles cackled... he was so mentioning this to his teacher the next time he saw the other Servant, just to see what he thought of it.

Daniela was too busy snickering at the entire development, as Xanxus had taken _one_ look at the massive library Shirou had and hadn't been seen since. Mordred looked torn at glaring at the Archer servant or trying to pet her cat ears. She frowned.

"Has anyone seen Bel or Jack?"

"They're running around the fortress playing tag," said Semiramis. "Since they don't have to worry about witnesses they've taken to throwing knives at each other as well... Bel's aim was poor but he's rapidly improving with all the practice."

"Oh. That's perfectly alright so long as we can find them in time for dinner then," said Daniela.

It said far too much about the average mafioso's thought process that she could accept the idea of knife tag and not get up in arms about children playing with sharp objects that can easily kill them. It said even more that the people around her were equally dismissive of the children's playing because it kept them from underfoot and they weren't likely to find anything too dangerous.

After all, Shirou had shown them where the other Masters were and politely asked them not to murder the drugged Magi. Belphegor avoided the room because the smoke made him sneeze, and Jack was more interesting in playing with the prince in a rather deadly game of tag.

Squalo had the feeling those two would be introducing said 'game' to Varia headquarters and really couldn't find it in him to give a damn. If a bunch of assassins couldn't handle a pair of bloodthirsty children throwing knives while playing, then they didn't deserve to be called Quality anyway. He was more interested in some decent booze that Xanxus wouldn't hog to himself and finding someone willing to spar with him.

God only knew Lussuria was going to be just as delighted being allowed to turn Jack into a dress up doll, since the little girl didn't have an issue with it and Bel refused to do so on principle.

The shark paused.

On second thought, if Lussuria ever got those two into matching outfits he was going to give the okama a raise so long as someone got blackmail material. Mammon might even help adjust the Sun's payroll.

* * *

_Some time later..._

"You know there's something I don't get," said Achilles.

"If it's about the fact I'm turning a blind eye to the discreet cat fight between Mordred and Atalanta, it's because I ain't stupid enough to suggest a threesome without first checking to see if Mordred is interested," said Xanxus immediately.

"...Well that too, but mostly I'm baffled why you're not with the other Masters and why Shirou seems perfectly fine with you wandering around freely when you made it clear you aren't with us."

Xanxus thought of the best way to phrase this. Fortunately Achilles was Greek so he should understand the reference.

"Pretend that Shirou and Ruler aren't followers of the Catholic god and are actually the champions of Hades," started Xanxus slowly, making sure Achilles was following this particular thought process. "Both sides have one of the Big Three backing them, and both believe their cause to be just. The problem is that the second champion was picked solely because Hades' original champion decided to bend the rules in a way Hades didn't like, but couldn't interfere directly. Following me so far?"

Achilles nodded, the comparison easy to understand.

"Now what do you think would happen to the poor bastard who is trying to get the artifact that Hades' champion is trying to use for his own ends, despite the fact Hades' champion is still empowered by the god and he was only supposed to act as a mediator to judge who was worthy of it among mortals?" said Xanxus dryly.

Achilles' wince was telling enough.

"You know when you put it like that it makes perfect sense why you don't want to get between them."

"Besides, I'm Catholic. Father Shirou isn't doing anything that involved harming the innocent to get his goals completed and is actually insuring to follow the agreed 'rules' outside the fact that he was originally a Servant himself to avoid collateral damage among those not involved. His methods might be unorthodox but as long as he's not committing atrocities against the innocent while hiding behind the cloth, I really couldn't give a shit what he's doing," said Xanxus bluntly.

Achilles ran that through his mental filter and found he had trouble disagreeing with the man's view on the matter. If he wasn't a Servant, he would have kept out of this particular mess himself.

"On an unrelated note, are you okay that I broke two of your knight's ribs?"

"Squalo finds it fun to spar with people who use blades. If he wants to whine about getting his ass kicked by someone from the Age of the Gods, that's his problem," deadpanned Xanxus.

Achilles grinned at that.

* * *

"Alright you two, since Father Shirou asked me to do something about the disagreement you're having after _someone_ nearly hit him with an arrow while trying to shoot Achilles..."

Atalanta had the decency to look abashed when he said that.

"I'm going to hit the heart of the matter. Why is it that you two are fighting over me, despite the fact I summoned Mordred first?" asked Xanxus bluntly.

Atalanta winced at the reminder and glared at Mordred.

"She won't admit she has a crush and the looks she keeps giving you piss me off!" said Mordred.

"I do not have a crush!"

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, kitty-cat," Mordred shot back.

Xanxus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Did it never occur to you that any straight man would be fine with _sharing_, even if you two refused to sleep with me at the same time?" he deadpanned. "A girl suddenly finding that she's okay with sleeping with another girl or interested in the idea without a lot of compromise involved only happens in manga."

Atalanta, to her credit, didn't dismiss the idea out of hand. It was Mordred he was looking at when he said this.

Mordred huffed.

"Why are you looking at me for?"

"If you read the Greeks myths you'd know they were a bit more open about who they slept with. Zeus in particular was rather prolific, and was an infamous serial rapist and unfaithful husband. In spite of that quite a few women flocked to his bed anyway because he was a god," deadpanned Xanxus.

"He's not wrong," admitted Atalanta with a scowl. "Besides sharing a bed with my sisters is something I've done before."

"Whereas you spent your entire life hiding your actual gender and have done your best not to be reminded of it because you think women in general are weak," said Xanxus. "So if anyone would have an issue with sharing me with another girl, it would be you."

Mordred wanted to deny it, but the simple fact was that she was possessive and didn't want Xanxus to suddenly favor the cat-girl next to her.

She huffed and refused to look at either of them in the eye.

"You're forgetting one important fact."

"What's that, _Boss_," she said scathingly.

"I didn't summon Atalanta, I summoned you and made a point to introduce you to my men. Besides, what dragon would turn down the idea of two mates, even if he had to split who he was sleeping with at the time? My men accepted you as one of them, but I don't see Atalanta being as comfortable around them as you were."

Mordred actually considered this.

When Xanxus introduced them to the Varia, no one had questioned her presence there despite being a woman. In fact _none_ of the assassins had once acknowledged her gender as anything important. She had managed to fight their Rain officer to a draw on his end and given a 'Name' (even if Xanxus thought he was being hilarious Naming her after her true name), thus everyone treated her as one of their own.

It was a far more open and kinder reception than she ever got at Camelot, especially after her origin was known.

"I suppose I could try sharing you. But I don't want her joining in when it's my turn!" said Mordred defensively.

"Again, a girl suddenly realizing she's bisexual and open to sharing the same guy only happens in manga and anime," deadpanned Xanxus. "We can work up to that point once you're ready for it. Besides, I bet Nonna would be _thrilled_ to have someone help her with babysitting Jack, since she's going to make sure both of them come to live with her. And any potential great grandchildren that might come once this mess is over with."

Atalanta perked up at that.

Xanxus deliberately ignored the thumb's up Daniela gave him after that much needed talk, since at least he had started the foundation of a very interesting threesome...and more great grandbabies for her to spoil later.

* * *

_In Italy..._

Mammon was going through the reports when they noticed something. The initial investigation report had come back on the Young Lion's _civilian_ family.

From a brief glance, it looked like a normal single-parent home. The child was around Belphegor's age and very clumsy.

However the Mist wasn't the best information broker for nothing. All the reports of the child's clumsy nature came _after_ the lone visit Nono and Iemitsu made together to visit when the boy was five.

No child was as naturally clumsy as this boy, and his grades were consistently in the lowest bracket possible. There were even reports that everyone from the students all the way up to the adults in his daily life called him "No Good" Tsuna.

All of Mammon's instincts told them that the boy would be the key to earning the Varia's freedom until a new don was chosen. The only issue was that they would have to wait for Daniela to come back, as she was the only one who could discreetly investigate the kid without having it come back to bite them in the ass.

Putting that on the backburner, they went back to the other matter the Boss asked them to investigate. Specifically the famiglia Father Shirou claimed was responsible for the death of Xanxus' mother.

So far what the priest said checked out... there was some rumor of that famiglia attempting to get their hands on a possible Sky, but it fell through when it became apparent the child in question had already been taken in by a much bigger family. One of their operatives was in the area the day his mother was murdered.

If they could prove that this famiglia was responsible, then Xanxus could legally go in and wipe everyone involved out with prejudice. He wasn't the least bit ashamed of where he came from, so it was doubtful the Vindice would care overly much so long as they had a good reason for it.

Besides, the group really was full of small fry no one would miss overly much anyway. It wouldn't make that big of a ripple if Xanxus decided to murder them all brutally.


	8. Chapter 8

"It's a good thing that we have private helicopters, otherwise this would have been really awkward," said Daniela as she stared at the devestation of the Hanging Gardens falling apart.

She had taken a few rather spectacular pictures of the massive dragon that flew out carrying the Greater Grail.

In the helicopter was Jack, her Mother, Xanxus, Squalo, Belphegor, Mordred, and Atalanta. One of the Rain mooks was flying them away from the collapsing fortress.

The awkward part came from the fact that the Rider (Astolfo) was only able to carry two other people on his Hippogryff, and there wasn't enough room for their group. Then again, Xanxus had ordered a withdrawal once Sieg had shown up and hadn't bothered to stay and see who won their fight.

If Father Shirou won, then they would transcend the human form...which was his idea of "salvation".

If Sieg won, then the Hanging Gardens weren't likely to survive and it would be rather difficult to make it to the helicopter before everything went to hell and started falling apart. Fortunately Semiramis was 'kind' enough to let them land the machine on her fortress long enough to board and get off. They hovered around long enough to see who won, but Xanxus had made it clear he wasn't particularly interested in interfering. Besides, Shirou had already fulfilled his end of the deal by 'incarnating' Mordred, Atalanta and Jack so that they had physical bodies before making his own wish.

If he succeeded, they would end up back in the Throne of Heroes anyway, and if not then he had at least upheld his word.

On an unrelated note, Xanxus fully planned to make a trip to the graveyard where Shirou said his mother had been buried. It was in Fuyuki, where the Tohsaka burial grounds were. The fact it would allow him to meet Father Risei and deliver the letter of introduction to the son and grandson of the priest who had protected his great grandfather was just bonus.

First things first though...he needed to deal with the 'security leak' Mammon had discovered on accident. Fortunately it wouldn't be too difficult to replace the fucker.

As a side effect of being given an actual physical body, Mordred had accidentally awakened her Flames. Amazingly, she was a Cloudy Sky, though the Sky part of her flames was somewhat weak. It was likely a side effect of being Arthur's clone, though there was really no way to tell.

Mordred was just pleased with the explanation that the fact she had Sky flames meant that she had just as much right to rule as her 'father' did.

Jack, unsurprisingly, was a straight Mist and a rather strong one at that. Xanxus fully planned to throw her to the miser brat for training before letting her partner up with Belphegor. Atalanta had no interest in being an assassin, but agreed to act as 'security' for the castle so that there was always someone competent on watch.

Once it became known Xanxus wanted nothing to do with the Ninth's incompetence or Iemitsu's outright _idiocy_ any longer, he had no doubt that they would have to deal with people trying to infiltrate or bring him down. He would rather have someone he trusted that he knew could never be bought off as part of security than trust in luck. As an Archer, Atalanta had superior senses and could take out any invading force solo before they had to do much.

The fact it allowed her to stay close to Xanxus while at the same time avoiding the craziness of the Varia was just bonus.

* * *

Dead silence. It took a few seconds to register the fact that the recently Named Mordred had just decapitated Ottabio in full view of everyone else, while her Cloud flames licked the edge of her sword.

"...Did the Boss' new girlfriend just kill that ass Ottabio?" asked one brave Mist in disbelief.

"About fucking time. That guy was a total prick!" said one of the Storms.

"Anyone got a problem with your new Cloud officer?" drawled Xanxus.

The rules were clear...if the one who killed the previous officer had the same Flame type and the right Quality, then they got to take their place as the new Officer. It was how Belphegor earned his place and it meant Xanxus wouldn't have to sift through the Clouds for someone suitable to take the traitor's place.

By the time dinner rolled around, the newly minted Cloud Officer Mordred was decked out in her uniform and was already making some of the mooks clean out Ottabio's quarters. All the paperwork was going straight to the Boss' office to be sorted through after Mammon accidentally discovered the possibility he was leaking information to Sawada.

It took a week, but Mordred soon settled into their new office and had already dealt with the rather poor challengers from their division. A few of the Clouds were soon parted from their heads, but an investigation after the fact by Squalo revealed they were also in on Ottabio's betrayal.

The thing that really rattled the mooks was the little girl that went by "Jack" that kept showing up to 'play' with Belphegor. The cackling those two let off were the stuff of nightmares, and the crimes scenes they left behind were often enough to leave even a seasoned assassin throw up.

Gradually, life in the Varia settled into a new norm.

* * *

Xanxus looked at the corpse of the man who had ordered his mother's death. He spat on it for good measure.

After confirming that this famiglia was behind his mother's death, Xanxus felt a strange sense of closure. Of course he would be heading to Japan later this month to visit her grave, and to meet the priest currently holding on to what was left of his ancestral inheritance, but for now he was just glad to have avenged his mother in some small way.

Just for good measure, Xanxus had made a point to let the Vindice know exactly _why_ they were wiping out the famiglia without any prior authorization. Considering how low-ranked these morons were, their destruction was barely a blip on the underworld's unofficial "radar".

He could care less that it might make him look more like a feral dog about to bite his master's hand, which was what the Ninth generation (especially Iemitsu) kept portraying him as. His mother deserved justice, which was something any mafioso would be able to understand and approve of.

Xanxus walked into the mafia-owned hotel, washed off and spotted a familiar form on his bed.

Mordred had come with him, mostly so she could 'reward' him for avenging his mother and to help him relax after a massacre.

He smirked in a darkly possessive manner.

He wondered how his ancestors would react if they knew he had taken up with two Servants, rather than a Magus girl.

_A few days later..._

If Risei was surprised to see Xanxus, he made no sign of it.

"So my son is dead then," sighed Risei.

"He died with more dignity than most of us get in this life, and his faith in our Lord never faltered even in the end. He was merely a means for God to test our faith in humanity, and in the end God deemed humanity still worthy of his love," said Xanxus.

Risei inclined his head in approval.

"I am pleased that the Tohsaka line has been given new life, and that you are a devout son of our Lord," said Risei. "It would ease quite the burden having the proper Second Owner take over the reigns, even if you chose not to move back to your ancestral holding until after you retire."

"Would be difficult to move back with the old man watching me like a hawk. He wouldn't hesitate to harass me because of some weird notion that he has the ability to control me," said Xanxus. "That being said, I have no problem with continuing our relationship with the Executors and loaning some of our men in extermination hunts. The amount of whining I have to put up with whenever one of those comes up..."

Risei blinked.

"Do they not appreciate doing the Lord's work in cleansing foul abominations?"

Xanxus snorted.

"More like too many of them want to join in since they don't really have to worry about collateral damage and ghouls present a more interesting challenge than humans do."

Either way, the entire trip was rather productive, even if Daniela gave him the _weirdest_ look when she realized that the older priest's son, who happened to be a very skilled Executioner, followed Xanxus home.

Kirei was strange, but not in a way Xanxus found disturbing. The man had a strange void in his life that he had spent years trying to deal with, to no luck...that is, until he saw Xanxus and Sky Attraction hit him _hard_.

As a compromise, since Xanxus really didn't think the Church would appreciate losing one of their best Executioners to the Mafia, no matter how devout they were, Kirei became the "official" priest for the Varia and the go-between for all 'cleansing' missions.

Which made a lot of bored assassins happy, because Xanxus had no doubt that once they temporarily cut themselves off from the Vongola's payroll, that the old fart would try to cut the missions available from the Alliance down in an effort to put the squeeze on them.

One of the perks to removing themselves from Vongola control was that they would only have to stay in-house for a month, before they were allowed to leave Vongola territory unhindered. After all, they _owned_ the Varia jets and Mammon had been pre-warned about the move so that they could make the Varia self-sufficient enough to weather the storm until a new normal set in.

* * *

Tsunayoshi Sawada was a tiny kitten in a town that had clearly set itself against him for the most ridiculous of reasons. Xanxus couldn't help but feel an iota of empathy for the brat...being dragged into the mafia was likely to be an upgrade from his current situation, as sad as that was.

Atalanta had taken _one_ look at the way he was being treated by not only the children, but any authority figure in his life, and had bristled in absolute fury. Even his own mother, which was the part that pissed the Archer off the most, treated him like he was 'no good'.

The fact the kid had latched on to the first show of actual kindness from a complete stranger said far too much. Atalanta didn't mind carrying the child, who had a death grip on her shirt but showed no actual fear towards her.

Even Daniela was frowning, which was saying a lot.

"This doesn't make any sense...why would an entire town turn against one little child to this extent?"

"Think you can give the kid a basic physical? Maybe something caused his flames to come out wrong," said Xanxus to Lussuria.

"Can do boss!" said the Okama cheerfully. He didn't try to extract the kid from Atalanta's hold, but a quick scan via his flames already had the Sun frowning.

Lussuria paused then tried again.

"Madam, would you be so kind as to perform a basic flame scan on the little one? I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly," said Lussuria to Daniela.

Daniela raised an eyebrow, but the second he humored him her eyebrows went upwards in absolute _fury_.

"Who the fuck put a _flame seal_ on an Active child?!" she nearly shrieked.

"Is that what it was? I thought I was imagining it because it feels like the little kitten is going between inactive and active irregularly," said Luss.

"Both of you calm down...you're scaring her," said Atalanta sternly.

"Her?" said Xanxus, looking at the Archer. "You mean to tell me that fucker Iemitsu can't be bothered to get the gender of his own _kid_ right?"

Daniela looked at a suitably freaked out little kid and asked gently in Japanese (everything else had been in Italian so the child wouldn't pick up any swearing) "What's your name sweetie?"

The kid in Atalanta's arms looked at Daniela for a moment, before deciding the odd auntie was trustworthy.

"Setsuna. But Mama calls me Tsu-kun," said the now apparent little girl.

"Just when I thought my estimation of that _idiota_ couldn't fall any lower..." muttered Xanxus.

He knew Iemitsu was delusional as hell, but to mistake his kid's gender because he wanted a son instead of a daughter? That was a new low even Xanxus wouldn't have expected.

"If the kid is sealed, does that mean we have the evidence we need to cut off the old bastard?" asked Mordred. She was showing all sorts of interest in the kid, because she felt like a little lion cub and was all sorts of adorable.

Mordred had formed a very low opinion of Timoteo and Iemitsu on her own after the first...and so far _only_ meeting of them. Apparently they wanted to restrict the Varia further and wanted to use the fact his new Cloud Officer was a woman against them.

If it wasn't for the fact that Xanxus had made it very clear upon his return that he was going to find evidence that would allow them to break away from the idiocy of the Ninth generation, half of the Varia would have happily gone on strike after hearing what they tried to pull.

Daniela stuck close to Atalanta, if only so she could dote on the tiny kitten who was in the other woman's arms. Even _Mordred_, who didn't particularly LIKE children, was showing some feminine interest in the kid.

It was a very surreal image.

Xanxus was busy chatting up Iemitsu's wife, who was suffering from depression so obvious that she had clearly made up a little world to live in that worked just enough with the real one that she could fake being happy. She wasn't oblivious in the least...Nana was suffering from outright denial and refused to acknowledge her daughter, who she apparently believed to be a boy, was suffering from bullying and straight up harassment from the adults and children around her.

Xanxus might not have liked his mother's profession, but at least when his Ma was lucid she never tried to hide behind a lie like this woman was. Even if he was still sore she had given him up for a better life, despite what a shitty father the old man turned out to be.

Mind made up, Xanxus allowed a wicked grin to cross his face.

"You're up to mischief, Xan-xan... What scheme do you have in mind?" asked Daniela in Italian. The woman clearly didn't understand it and the little girl only spoke Japanese.

"Imagine what chaos we could sow if we just _happened_ to relocate these two to Italy and brought an...unfortunate...end to Iemitsu's bachelor lifestyle. He claims he cares about the Family, but he clearly doesn't give two shits about his own."

A slow, evil grin formed on Daniela's face.

"Yes...it would be _tragic_ if he had to actually take responsibility he couldn't shove on someone else for once, wouldn't it? And this little one needs a proper role model to follow after..." said Daniela, with a speculative gleam on her face.

It was not his problem if his Nonna decided to mold Iemitsu's brat into a mini-version of herself. God knows he'd probably enjoy the fireworks of a second Daniela from the Primo's bloodline.

Mind made up, they took Setsuna with them to an 'accredited' (read: trustworthy and Vindice-enforced neutral) mafia hospital so they could record and find out who actually sealed the little girl before Daniela removed it.

She was not pleased to find out that her own son was the one who applied the seal...not only because little Setsuna was a powerful, active _Sky_ who couldn't have possibly done anything to deserve such a nasty restriction on her soul, but also because the seal in question was never meant for Skies in the first place. Sure, it sealed the flames so that the person appeared latent or inactive, but it did shit for Sky attraction.

The poor kid was reaching out for any compatible Elements she could, to restore the balance of her harmony, but the seal kept any bonds from forming and drove anyone with flames that she was in regular contact with closer and closer to Discord because there was a Sky _right there_ and they weren't allowed to bond.

They might not realize what was going on, but the situation was fairly obvious even to his inexperienced eyes and how the hell did Iemitsu _miss_ this?

The worst part was that Namimori was an unofficial place for those with flames to retire and attempt to settle down into a civilian lifestyle, so there were plenty of Elements for the kid to bond with that would turn hostile without even noticing it.

The girl was really going to be better off living with Daniela. Especially now that Xanxus had actual evidence Iemitsu and the Ninth didn't have the family's best interest in heart if they were stupid enough to pull this sort of stunt.


	9. Chapter 9

Xanxus might not have paid much attention to the Daniela-in-training (as he mentally dubbed Setsuna)...if it wasn't for the fact that less than a month after they absconded with her, the kid somehow convinced Atalanta to take her to an underground lab run by the now defunct Esterneo famiglia and set off one of the triggers Atalanta had about kids.

Specifically the fact some of the victims in the labs that were suffering through inhumane experiments were _children_, thus royally pissing off the Archer to the point she leveled the place.

The plus side? Daniela now had three new minions to spoil/train, and little Setsuna had picked up a Mist who bore a disturbing resemblance to the Primo/Secundo's own, right down to the weird hairstyle. The kid was obviously traumatized and would likely snap at some point if he wasn't given actual therapy by competent people, but he was loyal...for now.

From what Xanxus had been able to tell, from the limited time he spent with the homicidal little shit, so long as his minions were never threatened this "Rokudo Mukuro" would remain loyal.

That is, when he wasn't trying to one-up Jack in a game of "who can scare the living hell out of the most adults via Mist flames". So far Jack was still winning that game, but only because she had more...material...to work with besides modern horror movies.

Mukuro was still able to creep the hell out of people, mostly by appearing out of the shadows like a demon and using that creepy as fuck laugh of his.

So far Iemitsu hadn't figured out his wife and daughter were removed from Japan, or that Daniela had gotten her claws into them.

Mammon was already prepared with as many cameras as they could get their tiny hands on for the inevitable confrontation. Setsuna was almost seven and Xanxus' limited intuition told him that the fucker would be making another trip to Japan soon to keep up the lie he was a 'good husband'.

* * *

This was it. Iemitsu had gone to Japan to see his wife and 'son', unaware they were already in Italy.

He returned in less than two days, panicking about his 'family' being abducted by unknowns. Mammon had insured the neighbors wouldn't see Daniela or the others when they visited, and all they knew was that someone who looked like an obvious mafioso had come in and helped the two move out of the house. They were all too scared to find out who the strangers were, just Nana had gone willingly.

Needless to say Xanxus was _thoroughly_ enjoying the show, as was Daniela.

Since the Vongola Halloween ball was coming up, the two were going to spring the fact that Nana and Setsuna were already in Italy living with Daniela...and that the Varia were declaring the Ninth generation and CEDEF persona non grata until Iemitsu and Timoteo were replaced by competent people who actually put the Family's best interests first.

Since it was Halloween, everyone was going to dress up for the ball. No one would actually dance at the thing, but there would still be costumes.

Setsuna was dressed up as a tiger cub and remained firmly in Atalanta's lap...she didn't bother to dress up, but allowed her Servant form to be visible since no one would notice anything.

Mordred had done the same, just with her Knight armor, while Jack was dressed up as a little bloodthirsty princess since _her_ Servant outfit was definitely not appropriate for any sort of formal gathering.

Daniela was decked out like the Queen of Hearts, whereas Nana had been given an outfit of the Queen's maidservant.

Xanxus, mostly to humor the 'nickname' Mordred had rather lovingly given him among the mooks and Named assassins, was dressed up like a cross between a dragon and a king.

Daniela had laughed herself into hiccups for a full hour after seeing his Dragon King costume, especially since Squalo was dressed in period accurate armor for Camelot, which had Mordred doing her own doubletake.

The two were eagerly waiting for maximum impact, and as if to sense the impending chaos even the infamous Reborn had deigned to make an appearance.

That annoying little troll had made a beeline right for Daniela and was now enjoying the attention the baby Sky was giving him and Leon. Setsuna apparently found the pest _fascinating_.

Seeing Iemitsu talking with Nono about something with an unhappy look upon his face, Xanxus' intuition purred that if he wanted to cause maximum chaos now was the _perfect_ time.

Reborn's eyes gleamed with anticipation, and he swiftly paid Mammon for one of the cameras they brought for private enjoyment.

Iemitsu scowled when he saw Xanxus there. It was almost a pity the fucker hadn't brought one of his usual 'dates' with him, but perhaps that small 'fortune' was pushing it. There was no telling how Nana would have reacted knowing just how little her _husband_ thought of their marriage.

"What do you want, bastard?" snarled Iemitsu.

"I heard a rumor your wife and kid got kidnapped, and I'm here to offer my condolences," said Xanxus smoothly. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

Enrico, Massimo and Federico all stood up, apparently sensing something about to happen and discreetly distancing themselves from their father and Iemitsu.

Meanwhile any don with a lick of sense pretended to distance themselves while really spreading out so others could enjoy the coming show and still be within proper hearing range.

Mammon was already renting cameras to various dons or their wives at a decidedly marked up price, so the odds of the Vongola keeping this particular bomb under wraps were zero. After all, they were planning to vanish once the first wave of shock hit and sell the video to the Alliance for a very hefty profit that would help the Varia tide over the initial blow of losing the main house's official support.

Daniela would continue to fund it as discreetly as she could, but that would only last until the old man found out or worse, she croaked.

"Bullshit. What are you really after you bastard?" snarled Iemitsu.

Xanxus' smile was not for the faint of heart and it sent alarm bells down the spines of everyone who saw it...much less had Hyper Intuition.

"Why jackass, I thought it was obvious. I was going to tell you _exactly_ where your little family is," sneered Xanxus.

Dead silence.

"Xanxus, explain," said Timoteo. This wasn't the 'kindly' grandfather he tried to portray himself as, but the Ninth Vongola Don.

Xanxus looked just a little bit too gleeful as Daniela came into view...with Setsuna in Atalanta's arms and Nana walking right beside her.

"Imagine my surprise when I went to deal with my mother's inheritance that I find a baby Sky suffering through neglect and outright hostility. One that has _your_ surname," purred Xanxus.

Iemitsu sputtered when Nana's eyes brightened at the sight of him, and even outed him as her husband. Setsuna, on the other hand, held Atalanta a bit closer because she wanted nothing to do with Iemitsu...at all. And everyone could tell just by looking at her.

"Really Timmy, I know I raised you better... putting a generic flame seal on an _active_ Sky, especially a five year old who just went active? It's a miracle we got to her as quickly as we did...she was sending all the Elements in that town into borderline Discord because of her Sky Attraction and the fact everyone could sense what she was and yet couldn't bond with a distressed Sky," said Daniela, her voice full of absolute disapproval. "Never mind the damage it was doing to her flames."

Iemitsu went pale with fury.

"I don't want my daughter in the mafia!" he shouted, furious.

"Newsflash asshole, you lost that chance the day she went active. All you did was put her through nearly two years of torture with a seal that is used to _banish_ people from the famiglia instead of doing your fucking homework," snapped Xanxus. "If you had bothered to actually _visit_ your wife and daughter after the sealing, you would have seen the damage it was doing to the kid and brought her into the family properly rather than letting her suffer under outright bullying and harassment from everyone around her...including the adults."

"Perhaps we should take this into a more...private...setting," said Timoteo. Clearly he was attempting to do damage control.

"Fuck no. Consider this my official warning that until further notice, the Varia will not answer to any...exclusive...summons from the Ninth generation until a new Don or Donna is in place. You clearly don't have the famiglia's best interest in heart if you think it's perfectly acceptable to seal a _five year old_ with something used to banish people, much less a baby Sky who's only crime was going active in front of her dumbass father."

Timoteo's eyes flared orange, however briefly.

"Xanxus, be reasonable. Surely you don't intend to let your petty disagreements with me get to your head."

Xanxus glared at him, eyes full of fury.

"That's a load of crap, coming from you asshole. After all, you didn't even have the balls to tell me I was _adopted_ and that you only took me in because I looked like the Secundo and had his flames. I know for a fact you never saw my Ma before she contacted the Vongola to claim I was your son," snapped Xanxus. "And I bet any half-assed DNA test would prove it too."

The silence in the room was so thick that you could literally hear a pin drop. The political ramifications _alone_ that the Ninth had named a child he knew beforehand wasn't even his own blood an heir and even claimed the boy to be his illegitimate son... Enrico, Massimo and Federico were already making plans to distance themselves as much as possible from the Ninth generation, because if he lied about Xanxus then what other lies was he hiding.

And sealing a baby Sky just for going active?

Clearly the Ninth should have stepped down a long time ago if he was pulling something like this.

Mammon...made enough money that even their greedy, miser brain was happy in the following weeks after that ball.

Lal, being the sensible person she was...took one look at Iemitsu's near incoherence about the fact Xanxus had more or less relocated his wife and daughter to Italy with no one the wiser and put them in Daniela's care...and handed in her resignation.

She could see a sinking ship for what it was, and she wanted no part in Iemitsu's denial of reality. She had spent far too much time cleaning up after his shit to begin with. She needed a fresh start.

* * *

The month long "reprieve" to settle the differences between the Varia and the Vongola main family...and Xanxus made sure to spread the _exact_ terms of what clause he was using to cut ties with the Ninth until a new don was put in place, along with the specific conditions required to legally pull it off... was both the longest and shorted month of his life.

The Ninth really didn't like the idea of the Varia no longer answering to his demands...which meant Xanxus would rather gleefully cut the old man out when it came to the so-called monthly reports which was really the Ninth generation trying to put him in his "place" and remind him that he was the unwanted upstart they had to put up with.

The demands that he come to the Iron Fort to explain his actions were "polite" (read: condescending) at first. As if they were treating the Varia boss like an errant child they had to chide back into behaving.

That ended the second week of the 'ceasefire', two weeks before the Varia _officially_ opened themselves up to the wider Alliance for a slightly higher acceptance rate than normal. They weren't striking out completely, but they were making it pretty damn clear they were tired of the Ninth's shit and by extension the coming implosion of CEDEF under Iemitsu.

Timoteo apparently started to realize Xanxus might be entirely serious about his intentions, and started to up the harassment.

Xanxus felt absolutely _zero_ issues with setting Jack and Mukuro (on loan from Setsuna for "training") on any moles from CEDEF trying to "prove" the Varia Boss was attempting to seize the throne himself.

They weren't allowed to kill the moles, but anyone stupid enough to attempt infiltrating the Varia found themselves on the wrong end of a homicidal pair of Mists. Mukuro took entirely too much glee with driving those fools insane, with Jack pouting and putting the fear of god into the women that managed to make it past.

(To say that the two Mists fit in entirely too well in the Varia was understating a lot. Jack accepted her new Name of Hel with pride...even if Xanxus had to explain the reference to the Norse Goddess. Mukuro, the creepy brat that he was, had been entirely too pleased with being called Nogitsune because he was bonded to a Japanese Sky.)

When there was only one week left, Xanxus had enough of Timoteo's harassment and did something that both amused and shocked the mafia as a whole.

He filed a _restraining order_ against him, which was more along the lines of "if you get within such and such distance of me I am going to _end_ you, so leave me the fuck alone"...compared to what a restraining order normally was.

Then again, those things relied on the cops to actually _do_ their job and insure the one the order was against didn't come back.

Considering Xanxus was in the mafia, that meant relying on the Vindice and it would be a cold day in hell before the Mafia enforcers bothered with anything as trivial as an in-house dispute so long as Omerta was kept.

Though he could be forgiven for openly choking on his coffee when a bewildered Mammon informed him that the annoying pest of a hit man known as Reborn somehow _harmonized_ with the little fluffy kitten that was already turning into the next coming of Daniela.

Any doubts in his course of action _died_ upon having that particular rumor confirmed...the girl would have wasted her potential as a Sky if that seal had remained on any longer than it had, if she was capable of pulling that trolling asshole under her influence when she hadn't even hit puberty yet.

Ironically, that news also solidified Xanxus' position of removing the Varia from Vongola control, because if she was capable of harmonizing with the Strongest Sun to have ever _existed _(according to popular opinion) then why on earth was the Ninth Vongola don so eager to clip her wings on the whim of her idiot father who didn't even bother to check in on her situation once the seal was actually applied?

The fact that it was becoming increasingly possible that little Setsuna might end up the next Vongola Donna if her growth continued as it had been since entering Daniela's care and having the seal removed was somewhat disconcerting for Iemitsu. His particular star had been dropping like a stone both for the eventual implosion of CEDEF under his management and the fact he had been so quick to try and cripple his daughter's much stronger flames.

(Popular opinion was that Iemitsu had felt threatened by the girl, hence why he had been so quick to seal her rather than train her.)


End file.
